Junior who might get a c in Honors Precalc at the end of this semester [MD resident, 3.86 GPA, 1440 SAT, political science or economics]

Although it’s generally not considered a good idea to chase prestige for it’s own sake…and I’m not actually recommending you do so…your question about “what good schools you can get into” (A LOT, actually!) sounds a little bit like prestige/rankings are important to you. So here’s my opinion of top-ranked schools where ED could potentially help you move the needle from “reach” to “high target/target” by applying ED because your stats are in their mid-range and the school has an overall ED acceptance rate of 25% or higher. This is by no means a perfect metric but at some schools ED really makes a difference and at other schools not so much.

Top 30 (US News)
There are a few T30 schools where ED acceptance rates are 25%+ but your SAT is outside the midrange for their admits so even the ED advantage might not be enough at these schools but the T30 where I think ED could help you the most are:

Emory
WashU
(USC is adding ED this year so remains to be seen how big of an advantage that will be)

Top 31-50

Your stats are in range for these schools and they have an ED acceptance rate of 25% or more:

Boston College
Boston University
Lehigh
Northeastern (their mid range SAT is very slightly above yours)

Top 51-60
Case Western
Wake Forest
Villanova - may be a low reach/high target even without ED because they are expanding class size and the RD/EA acceptance rate has gone up a little due to the expansion
George Washington - this is a target anyway no need to ED
Santa Clara - this is a target anyway no need to ED

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But WUSTL, for example, had only 29% of applicants submitting. So it doesn’t really mean the OP would be taking a flyer as much as it means they would have to be strategic about use of TO strategies.

If you have good AP scores, adding those could help. Unfortunately, with grade inflation being what it is, having some outside data points confirming academic excellence/readiness can help.

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Yes that’s true, but the ED acceptance rate is still pretty low so I still think it’s pretty close to a reach even if OP applies ED. I Mentioned it though because among the top 30 it may be one of the lower reaches of you ED.

Sorry, I was unclear. Agree that it’s a reach. Just saying that the SAT may not be an automatic disqualifier.

The challenge with all of these is that they get so many applications.

agreed!

OP - I think your best chance to get in to one of your top 4 reaches is to ED at BC. I think your other three top reaches remain unlikely admits even if you ED.

But, there are so many schools for which you are a strong applicant! Consider what you really want in a school and…if you don’t get in to BC and you really want to go to a “top ranked” school, consider ED2 at one of the other top schools mentioned but only if it’s truly your (second) top choice. There are a lot of other great schools mentioned in the thread that could be a fantastic fit for you. Best of luck and congrats again on pulling that math grade up to a B - i believe that will truly make a difference in your applications.

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