REA to Stanford

Josephina92
Tue, 03 Aug 2010 00:12:20 +0000

So I’m feeling really up-and-down about this whole “REA” thing at Stanford. At first, I was all for applying early action, because Stanford was definitely my first choice and, if I were to get in RD, I would automatically accept, no matter any other acceptances.

Then, after doing some research (mostly on this site), I saw that, unless I was definitely qualified, in terms of stats, there wasn’t much point in applying REA, besides finding out if I got in earlier, because the early pool can be a bit more competitive than regular decision.

However, after thinking about it some more, I’m wondering if I should just go for it. If I don’t get in, I have a few other colleges that I would apply to RD that I would definitely go to if I got in (Pomona, Pitzer, Reed, etc.).

My big question, however, is this: my SAT I scores are pretty low for Stanford’s standards, and I’m going to take the test again in October. I know that the scores will be spent in time for REA, but would it be wise to wait until I knew what the scores were, and then decide which way to apply?

For instance, if I did much better the second time, and found out a few days before the REA deadline, would it be okay to still apply? I know, in essence, it would be, but I’m such a planner, that I would hate to join all the other procrastinators in applying (if there are any, that is; oh god, what if I’m the absolutely last person to apply to Stanford REA??? haha).

Or, if my scores didn’t improve very much, I would just apply regular decision, because it just wouldn’t seem worth it. Any opinions?