should i ED far reach school or more realistic school?

Applying to College
1

since ED may boost chances up, I’m a bit confused and want some advices on where to apply between

Far reach school (like JHU or Duke) – school that if it’s not ED, I probably have no chance at all, but applying ED to school which is likely to reject me anyway would waste my ED chance.
or Reach school (like Carnegie) – not my dream school but still hard to get in?

/ i’m interested in Biomedical Engineering
apply as an international student (Asian: Thai)
not apply for financial aid
SAT 1490 (700 EBRW 790 Math) superscore 1500 (800 Math)
SAT physics,math II,biology all 800
IELTS 8.0 (but 6.5 in speaking) GPA ~3.9/4.0 (we don’t weight)
Extracurriculars: national youth orchestra, BME research at thai university, debate club
no national awards and i got no APs since i attened public school in thai curriculum
also no diverse clubs because my school didn’t allow

I know my chances are low for both far reach and reach schools but I just want to try so that I won’t regret later, but still can’t decide where to ED please help me out! Thank you /

2

JHU would give you better odds as they accepted 31% vs. 18% for Duke in early decisions for the Class of 2023. Also, if you don’t get into the BME program at JHU they give you the option to decline your ED acceptance to the general college (i.e. let out of your contract).

3

I don’t know why you think CMU would be an easier admit
https://admission.enrollment.cmu.edu/pages/undergraduate-admission-statistics

4

The bigger issue is will you need money to attend? As an international student your ability to pay will be a factor in admissions at the schools that you are considering