A B+/A- student probably won’t be competitive at Cornell or Tufts absent a hook of some kind (recruited athlete, child of major donor, legacy, FGLI, national recognition of some kind etc) regardless of whether or not they apply ED. There are just too many strong students looking at these schools. Applying TO (other than CALS) won’t help. Of course, you should still consider some reaches, but it is going to be really, really important to have a balanced list that includes schools where a student with this profile is more likely to be accepted. Your student might consider trying to test because a strong test score could be helpful at some schools.
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