High Junior at a top prep school in a little bit of a dilemma. Parent is a tenured professor in a STEM subject at a top 5 (think Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Yale) university, so there is quite a good shot (60%?) I get it. However, I was recently admitted to a UChicago summer program that allows me to apply in a binding round in September (this is a new addition, UChicago calls it ED0/SSEN). My school has pretty established pipeline (75% ED1 rate) to UChicago and it is very appealing to finish the process in September. To complicate things even more, I really like Dartmouth and with my grades my school has an 70%+ ED1 rate.
I am hoping to go into finance out of undergrad, maybe going to business school later. My decision is based on which school would give me the best job connections as well as best education overall.
I like all of the schools equally
OPTION 1A: Apply ED0 to Chicago, get decision in late September and use my ED1 on faculty school and apply Dartmouth RD
OPTION 1B: Apply ED0 to Chicago, get decision in late September and use my ED1 on Dartmouth and apply faculty RD
OPTION 2A: Forgo ED0 to Chicago, use my ED1 on faculty school and apply Dartmouth RD.
OPTION 2B: Forgo ED0 to Chicago, use my ED1 on Dartmouth apply faculty RD.
As many of you know, UChicago is nearly impossible to get in during rounds besides ED. I could ED2 there, but it will not be nearly as good of a shot.
ED is a binding decision. If you are admitted anywhere ED, you are done and that’s where you’re going. You have to withdraw all other applications and can not apply RD anywhere.
If you want multiple acceptances to choose from, you shouldn’t apply ED.
Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and Stanford do not have ED, they have Restricted Early Action, which has its own rules and is non-binding.
What’s the tuition benefit for your parent- portable? Only good at the home institution? And other than finance-- what are you actually interested in LEARNING in college? start there. I’m assuming Chicago is the outlier in terms of campus culture vs. the other institutions you are considering-- it is less “Where fun goes to die” than it used to be, but it’s still a serious kind of place and does NOT operate as an apprenticeship for the investment banking industry. Dartmouth will have more of that pre-professional vibe if that’s what you are looking for.
If your parent is faculty on HYPS, note that these all have restricted EA, not ED. Although the rules may vary somewhat, applying restricted EA to one of those schools means not applying ED anywhere else concurrently, and not applying EA to other private schools in the US.
The good news is you have plenty of time - sounds like you are attending the camp at UChicago and that should give you a good idea if the school, location and weather work for you and if Chicago should still be in the mix by late summer.
Dartmouth and UChicago seem very different to me - so great you can spend time at 1 school this summer to get an idea of fit.
I’ll also add that my daughter (still in college) was an athletic recruit and visited all of the schools you listed except UChicago - they are all VERY VERY different and it was easy for her to narrow her list based on the school even before she thought about her sport.
In terms of job connections to the finance world, here’s a 2024 report on Wall Street feeders. There’s no bad choice among any school you are considering:
My junior loved his UChicago program last year and will probably go ED0 as well. Staying on campus was instrumental in knowing it was the right fit. Hopefully it will give you clarity as well.