<p>In terms of where to apply, you will most likely have the greatest chance of acceptance applying to Brown ED, just based off acceptance rates alone. There’s no evidence suggesting that applying SCEA to either Stanford or Yale with boost your odds; on the contrary, it’s highly possible that due to a slightly stronger-overall applicant pool, it’s actually more difficult to be admitted (this is not true for schools with ED). Princeton, as has been mentioned, doesn’t have any type of early admissions program. Also, the siblings should give some boost, but nothing substantial.</p>
<p>That said, if you do intend on applying ED to Brown, there are a few things you should seriously consider beforehand. If you need financial aid, you will not be able to compare packages applying ED. Stanford, Princeton, and Yale do tend to be a bit more generous with financial aid than Brown, so that’s something to think about. Also, and I’d say that this applies to you especially, as you aren’t completely set on the school: if it is not your absolute first choice, I’d be very hesitant to sign the contract–there’s really no way getting out of it.</p>
<p>All of the schools have both fencing and crew teams, they’re all going to provide you with myriad opportunities, and you will find excellent professors at all of them (and many, many other schools as well). Your decision should come down to two things: one, after thinking more specifically about what you really want: closer to home or further? More of a sports atmosphere or not so important? Residential colleges or theme houses? Open curriculum or some breadth requirements? City or town? Palm trees or snow? (hint: there is a right answer to that one…just kidding). You’re considering four excellent schools, and the factors you’re looking for just affirm that. But if you want to really differentiate between them, the kind of differentiation that will enable you to commit to one over the rest, it requires more specific introspection about what you want. Oh, and the second thing? Where you feel the most at home. If you haven’t already, I recommend visiting each school, and if possible, staying overnight, so you can see what it’s really like on campus.</p>
<p>Time for a little Stanford plug to close off: Like I said before, all of the schools you’re considering are superb, in many ways. When I was a senior, I found myself choosing between a similar list of schools: Stanford, Yale, Harvard, a specific program at Penn, Dartmouth, and a few others that were less similar to the schools you’re looking at. I didn’t apply to Princeton or Brown, but did visit both. When applying, I didn’t really care about the city/suburb location, the distance from where I lived, or many of the factors above that I wrote for you to think about. Did I consider them? Yes. But my biggest priority was that second part above, where I felt most at home. And I could picture myself on any of those campuses, though Stanford and probably Yale the most. After I got my acceptance letters (I applied RD to all), I went into round two of deliberations. I re-visited many of the schools. I looked even deeper into programs. When it came down to it, I chose Stanford for the following:</p>
<p>-Environment: cliche, but the warmth, the beauty, etc were definitely a strong selling point. I felt like it was a place where I could be happy, even when I was stressed. That’s remained true, even as I enter my third year here.
-Public Policy major: none of the other schools offered this, and at the time it was what I was most interested in. I’m actually a HumBio major now, minoring in PubPol, but that was one academic element that stood out to me. HumBio is pretty unique too, ironically.
-Social options: Stanford has such a wide array of things to do, during the week and especially on the weekends. At some of the other schools I considered, it was either frat parties or just hanging out in people’s rooms, but here we fill everything in between: Special Dinners, wine events, all the way to Exotic Erotic (please don’t google that). It’s never boring, and there’s no pressure to drink, unless you want to.
-Students: Call it the “duck effect” (though I think that’s really less prevalent than people make it out to be) or just attribute it to the weather, the Stanford students I met just seemed to be generally more relaxed, more laid back. College is hard. I wanted to spend it somewhere where people weren’t constantly complaining about that fact, or slaving themselves over it.</p>
<p>I was going to go on, but I realized this post could end up pages long if I do so. To summarize: you have a bunch of great options, really think about what you want and where feels right before deciding, and Stanford’s the best (hehe). Good luck and stay healthy!</p>