My top choice for college is Yale, and I have been considering applying early action for a while. I know that my scores and grades are good, so I’m not waiting for a boost in those. However, I don’t find out if I will be captain of my school swim team until late November or early December, and so I wouldn’t be able to put that down on an Early Application (since the deadline is Nov 1st). I was wondering if I should still apply early, and send an update if I become captain and I haven’t heard back from Yale yet, or if I should just wait and apply RD, in case I do become captain. I know that applying EA doesn’t increase the chance of being accepted a lot, but I do feel like it helps.
The swim captain here is always the kid of a booster parent. I find it hard to believe Yale would care.
having/not having captain on your list of ECs will not be what tips the difference between being admitted or not. If you are worried about demonstrating leadership in your application, your GC can easily slip in a line such as ‘collegewahoo is a strong leader, as evidenced by x and y’.
(true anecdote: I know a current student on the Yale swim team, who was not captain of the swim team, and actually did not have any formal ‘leadership’ role in high school),
You can apply early and send a brief email to your admissions officers if/when you are named captain. It would be a good excuse for an update and you can reaffirm your interest in the college.