Hello!
I am aware that applying early decision to your top-choice school can show them that you are committed and serious about attending their institution; however, I think that “binding” early decision agreements put middle-class/low-income students at a disadvantage. I would love to apply early decision to my top-choice school (Brown), next year, but I don’t think I can due to financial reasons. I don’t come from a terribly poor family, but I just don’t think my family can handle that binding contract. My parents say that they would need to compare offers from different schools, and I think that’s valid. So my question is, will applying regular decision lower my chances of getting in? If so, how do I make myself stand out?
Yes, it’s harder to get in regular decision. In answer to your second question, read everything on college confidential. Kidding, but only a little. There are too many answers for your one question. Getting noticed by adcoms is what everyone is trying to do.
Seriously, just start reading posts in what colleges look for in applicsnts, how to write good essays, etc… There is no one size fits all answer to your question. Beyond the basics of good grades, tough courses, and good test scores, it’s the goal of 99.9% of the people on this site: how to be noticed by admissions. You have plenty of time to find your answers, but in a nutshell, do things you enjoy doing, be likeable, get good recs, etc… These are all ways to be noticed.
It depends on the uni. For Brown, yes, they accept a higher percentage ED, however, many can argue that this grou is also somewhat self-selected.
https://news.brown.edu/articles/2016/03/admitted2020
Best advice it to take time to write your essays and at some point along the way let them know it’s your first choice (if it still is when application season comes around).
There are non-binding schools to which you can apply early that are still highly selective.
On how to stand out. When my son applied, one thing that we did on this site that was useful was to review the data on students who were accepted/rejected/waitlisted from target schools. This was not to look at depressing info, but to get a measure of some kind of comparison to see if he was aiming too high or was competitive (and to inject realism into the process by seeing that fantastic applicants get rejected). It also gave me a good idea of what it can take to stand out in such an applicant crowd (look at those ECs, look at what they did in their summers).
I am not an adcom officer, but, here is what you can do:
(1) The obvious—objective data: grades, test scores, course rigor.
(2) The out-of-your control—letters of recommendation (you can pick the people, but not what they write)
(3) Write great essays that show who you really are as a person—find that ‘voice’ if you can (don’t be afraid to be you, to be authentic versus “is this the kind of essay that any high-achieving student might write”?).
(4) Extra-curriculars. These help flesh you as a person too, and can show your passion for an area or small section of them. Be invested in them. Try to get leadership positions.
And here is my personal theory from experience. To stand out with ECs at a school like Brown, sometimes you need a “shiny” when you are surrounded by people who were Captain of X team, newspaper editor-in-chief, President of Y society, and have a 4.0 unweighted GPA. To me, a “shiny” is something that other people don’t normally do. What’s not a shiny? Typically, things that a student can do in school. Meaning, captain of a sports team? That’s great and a very worthy accomplishment. How does that separate you from other sports captains? Now, did you win the state championship, that might indeed be a “shiny”. Did you attend a competitive summer program in one of your areas of interest (e.g. RSI, TASP, Promys, or similar things in other fields)? This helps to show your passion in an area—you take extra steps beyond what one can do in school. Other shiny moments can include significant individual achievements/awards in competitions (music, art, writing, science, math, debate, sport). It can also be a significant dedication to your community in some way.
Of course, family resources and time can limit access to certain ECs as well to obtain those “shiny” things. But a “shiny” does not have to be a product of privilege either. And I’m just talking about my experiences/opinions.
If you can’t or won’t be able to get a “shiny”, then, in general, letters of recommendation and your essays are where you will have to stand out, and only one of those is really within your control.
And fwiw, my son applied RD to Brown last year and was accepted (he was deferred and then rejected from the school to which he applied early—his only outright rejection as life would have it, but he’s very happy where he is).
Good luck!
@ChartresBlue did your son end up at Brown? Also, is it OK to have varied extracurriculars? I know some people say that you should concentrate on one thing thoughout highschool and show your interest in that, but although I am a science/math person, my extracurriculars don’t revolve around that. For example, I am interested in human rights/government, so I participate in the Civil Rights Team (co-captain), Young Dems, and Student Government (head of academics). I am also interested in writing so I am the editor-and-chief of our school’s annual literary magazine and I have won some scholastic writing awards. I am interested in Art, so I work with my school’s Drama club. I feel like although I want to pursue a STEM-related field, that is not the focal point of my extracurriculars, though I do also participate in robotics, research (won some awards at state fair) , and the science bowl (co-captain) etc. Some people have told me I participate in too many things. What is your opinion on this dillemma of depth vs. breadth?
Well said @chartresblue! +1 I agree
@sciencenerd123 he visited Brown and really liked it, including the area in Providence around the college. Ultimately he chose to attend Princeton. One of his good friends is attending and loves it. And he was in a high school STEM program, but was ultimately more interested in the humanities and applied as such.
You can participate in lots of things—there’s absolutely nothing wrong in that. My son did. You are a high school students; you are allowed to have varied interests. That’s even healthy. But, the common application for colleges usually asks you to list your top 10 favorite ECs, ranked in order of your preference—things at the top of the list will get more attention. The question is, of all those varied interests, what are you favorites, and what have you done to advance yourself in those areas beyond normal participation?
For example, science bowl (I am not familiar with that, but I know about “academic team”): have you participated in tournaments where your individual performance stood out? Writing—beyond regional Scholastic key awards, have you been published anywhere outside of your school’s lit mag (it does not necessarily have to be prestigious)? Those are things that could be “shiny”. Participation alone is not (it’s important, but just not something that might separate you from the pack).
To put this another way, assume you are an adcom official at super-selective ABC University. You want to admit students who can not only academically succeed, but will add something to the overall university. If you see an application where someone has 10 varied interests, that’s fine. But what makes the applicant stand out? A demonstrated passion and achievement for Activity X (not just regular participation) can make a student do that. Now, if ABC University wants a student with an interest in X, that student is well on his or her way to being seriously considered by ABC (and that’s all anyone can really hope for).
For example, you may be interested in art and work with the drama department. The uncomfortable truth is that a school like Brown will get tons of applicants like that. But it will also get applicants from art students who have won awards, who have designed something “special”, and have otherwise separated themselves from the pack. A school is likely to pick that student with the shiny over the jack-of-all-trades. That does not mean that jack-of-all-trades students don’t get admitted—they do. But that’s probably due to great essays and letters of recommendations than standing out EC-wise.