<p>One reason I’ve heard to not apply EA is if the student’s grades are on a upward trend, and wants to get another semester of good grades in the application, or similarly if standardized tests are being re-taken to get better scores.</p>
<p>One reason not to apply EA is that it gives you much shorter time to work on your essays. If you planned well and started really early, go for it. If you are still rewriting your essay at the last minute, it’s better to skip EA and apply RD.</p>
<p>I urge everyone to check Naviance data for schools that have EA. At our HS, there is a SIGNIFICANT difference between acceptances EA and RD at a college. Stanford is one example. Stanford has historically accepted 5% to 7% of my kid’s HS graduating class (a Bay Area private HS). Essentially ALL of the acceptances are SCEA, with usually only one student accepted RD (who is usually a strong URM candidate or has some very compelling story). Upshot of this is that excellent top of class students without a strong hook have almost no chance at Stanford RD, but have a very good chance at Stanford SCEA.</p>
<p>Agree with 3togo that one may want to drop some schools after an EA acceptance. (Mine each dropped three after EA, but the financial safety was still in play.) This depends on your need for merit/FA, though – if you need a good package, it may make sense to play the cards through to the end.</p>
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<p>I realize it’s a pretty small sample but we saw just the opposite at our house. Both girls came out of high school as top of the class students. D1 applied to Stanford RD and was accepted. D2 applied to Stanford SCEA and was deferred and later rejected.</p>
<p>^ My point was “Upshot of this is that the excellent top of class students without a strong hook AT THIS HIGH SCHOOL have almost no chance at Stanford RD, but have a very good chance at Stanford SCEA.”</p>
<p>No doubt different schools have different trends. CHECK THE NAVIANCE DATA for your HS!</p>
<p>I wonder how a homeschooler can follow trends…I think we’re on our own.</p>
<p>sbjdorlo – There are also certain benefits to just getting things DONE. My D2012 is also preparing a music supplement. Because of EA deadlines, she has made an appointment to record it next week. (Extra-early because her preferred accompanist is unavailable in October). To prepare, she has been practicing twice a day, getting up a half-hour early for a before-school run-through. It’s cutting into her sleep, and mine. Cello music is lovely, but not necessarily what I want to be hearing at 6:00am! I’ll be glad when that is done. </p>
<p>Would she play better if she had an extra couple of months? Maybe, maybe not. In my experience, pieces don’t really get that final polish until the just before the deadline, regardless of the amount of lead time.</p>
<p>My school advises against applying EA to a school unless you’re absolutely sure it’s your number one choice. They say that it is rude to reject an offer of early admission, especially if it’s at a school with a low admission rate. For example, Stanford has restrictive Early Action, so you don’t have to attend if accepted, but you can’t apply early anywhere else. Rejecting an early admissions offer from a school like that won’t make the school like you or the high school you come from! Although you may think you love a certain school now, a lot can change over a school year and financial aid can make a great impact on matriculation decisions.</p>
<p>musisat, that’s (IMO) ridiculous. If colleges want you to be obligated to attend they have ED. Chicago spent months wooing my son (and very effectively too I might add), but I don’t think our high school will be dinged because ultimately he chose another school which only had ED.</p>
<p>I know this sounds paranoid (I’m made paranoid by this process) but can schools see where you applied SCEA? Would applying to Yale SCEA decrease my chances at Stanford or Princeton when RD came around because they know that I may have gotten into Yale?</p>
<p>Does EA affect Merit Aid possibilities?</p>
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I don’t think the other schools see where you applied early. However, obviously when you apply RD, THAT school knows you didn’t apply early there.</p>
<p>^ (re #71)Or maybe the other schools will be more eager to have you knowing you got into a school SCEA, but haven’t already accepted the offer.</p>
<p>You can overthink these things.</p>
<p>My older son applied to Harvard RD when they had SCEA, his interviewer asked him why he hadn’t applied early. My son said because it wasn’t his first choice. Harvard accepted him anyway. The HYPMS’s of the world aren’t worried about their yield.</p>
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I’ve seen this discussed and the general belief is no. You get the answer earlier but the merit and FA decisions come in on time.</p>
<p>Can anyone PLEASE tell me what the acronym SCEA stands for?
I know EA but what is SC?
THANK YOU VERY Much!</p>
<p>Single Choice Early Action. A few schools say if you apply early to them you can’t apply early anywhere else, but unlike ED you don’t have to attend or let them know if you are coming until spring.</p>
<p>Single Choice</p>
<p>SCEA ia a form of early action where the student agrees to only apply early action to that single school. It is not a committment to accept an offer of admission like ED.</p>
<p>oops- too slow - cross posted</p>
<p>Thank you both VERY much. I could NOT figure that one out!
My dd will be applying, within the next couple of weeks, ED and a few EA.
Her application and supplements are done and I think her college advisor and teacher recommendations are almost ready (the college advisor takes care of those for us).
I am up reading CC and she is sleeping LOL
I SO hope we can be relaxing and happy by Thanksgiving!
Good luck to us all!</p>