If my senior grades (hopefully straight As) are significantly higher than my junior grades with a rigorous course load, would it make sense apply regular decision? I would rather apply early action if there is a chance that colleges won’t even look at my first semester senior grades, but if they will definitely check that I would rather apply regular decision.
My parents think I should apply EA (not ED, just to clarify) regardless because of a higher acceptance rate, but I have read that this is largely not the case.
It depends on the college. Some schools largely fill their classes in EA, while others don’t have much of a benefit to applying EA. Which schools are you applying to?
EA makes sense, for the reason mentioned above. Sometimes they may ask for first semester grades, and if you are deferred you can always submit them to show the good performances (assuming you get the grades you aim for).
How much better will your first semester senior year be than junior year? Our CC advised to wait if it was a meaningful difference, and for some kids, it is — especially if something got you off your game junior year. Of course, you’ll need to look at this in the context of each school.
Thank you for your responses! I want to be a CS major. I will definitely be applying to my NJ state school (Rutgers). I am also planning on applying to Texas A&M (mainly for NMSQT scholarship), UW Madison, UMD, Penn State, and Purdue off the top of my head, but I will probably add some more later. Princeton as well, although that is definitely a major reach.
I go to a pretty rigorous, large public high school (for context, teachers generally have average AP scores of around 4.8-5, and in many of my classes everyone gets a 5). Last year I took 4 APs + self studied 1 in addition to honors courses, and as far as grades I got a lot of B/B+s. I believe that if I improve my study/homework habits, I can do significantly better my senior year (I will be taking 3 APs + Multivariable Calculus, which is AP-weighted at our school).
I have a 1570 SAT and very solid ECs, with a lot in music (I’d rather not get into specifics here though). My main concern is that I will apply early action, get rejected, and regret not applying regular decision lol.
Apply to every public school through Early Action. In most cases, you’ll only be considered for honors programs or scholarships if you apply early. Note: honors programs and merit scholarships are highly competitive at schools like UMD, Penn State, and Purdue. UMD, for example, fills about 93% of its incoming class through EA - so definitely don’t miss that one!
Princeton offers Restrictive Early Action (REA), which means you can’t apply to any other private schools under Early Action. Keep that in mind when planning your application strategy.
I would be very surprised if Princeton happens and I don’t think it’s worth applying REA when there are more realistic options. Fine to apply in the RD cycle and hope for the best.
I would consider applying EA to a couple of private schools as well – RPI and RIT come to mind. WPI could be interesting but they are test-blind so it might be tough with your grades. Maybe consider schools like Iowa State as well?
Princeton REA does not restrict against applying EA to public schools. So it may only be a restriction if the OP wants to apply EA to other private schools, or ED to any school.
If you are considering schools that value demonstrated interest, this may be a good question to ask your state-specific admissions officer at each school. My D24 had the same type of question (except her decisions was between apply ED1 vs ED2) and, without our knowledge, her HS counselor asked the AO the question specifically. I honestly believe this outreach helped because it put her on the AO’s radar. It may not help as much in your situation since you are not applying ED but I still think it can make a difference at schools that track demonstrated interest. It’s great to get your name in front of the AO early so they know you are serious and know who you are. Good luck!
Yeah, I know – but I think having an early acceptance to a place like Case or RPI in the pocket would be prudent (and unless there are very unusual hooks for this kid, I just don’t see Princeton happening, especially not early.)