Early Action to Harvard?

gibby
Fri, 28 Aug 2015 16:13:36 +0000

I posted this on another thread, maybe you missed it:

SCEA is not for everyone – it is SUPER competitive. Having been through this with both my kids, here’s my advice:

In the SCEA round HYPS are looking for the best of the best, meaning that if you have a 2200+ SAT, with lots of AP classes and AP tests (all with 4’s and 5’s) and an unweighted GPA above 95 (on a 1-100 scale) or an unweighted GPA of 3.9+ (on a 1-4 scale), and are ranked in the top 1% to 3% of your graduating class, then you should apply to HYP or S in the SCEA round. Pick a school, whichever one is your favorite, and apply, as the odds tend to be better for high-end students in the early round, no matter what Admissions says otherwise.

If you have a sub-2200 SAT or the ACT equivalent, and are ranked in the top 4% to 10% of your high school’s graduating class, then you should probably NOT apply SCEA, as there is a high probability that your application will get buried by the polly-perfect’s of this world, and there is a greater likelihood you will be deferred.

Instead, student’s with sub-2200 SAT’s, and ranked in the top 4% to 10% of their graduating class, should apply to a broad range of non-binding colleges in the early round and apply to HYPS in the RD round.

If you are a strong applicant, I suppose the worst that could happen if you apply SCEA is that you get deferred. FWIW: Harvard defers most applicants in the SCEA round: http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2014/12/977-admitted-to-class-of-2019-under-early-action/

In addition to the 977 admitted students, 4,292 were deferred and will be considered again in the Regular Action process, while 541 were denied, 19 withdrew, and 90 were incomplete.

However, your goal should be to have at least one acceptance in your back pocket come mid-December, so you need to follow Harvard’s advice on the SCEA info page: https://college.harvard.edu/admissions/apply/application-timeline/restrictive-early-action

QUESTION: If I apply restrictive early action to Harvard, may I apply to another private college’s early action program (restrictive or not)?

ANSWER: No. However, you may apply Early Action to any public college/university or to foreign universities.

If you apply SCEA, you should also apply to any state college that interests you – schools like UMich, UCLA, UVA – basically any school on this list: http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/top-public. And, you can also apply early to any non-US university.

As the vast majority of student’s do not get accepted in the SCEA round, you need to give yourself lots of other choices both SCEA and RD.