I know this exact question has been worded many times by many different people, but I wondered based on fit which of these schools I should decide to apply early action to. The difference of EA vs. REA doesn’t matter to me because these are the only three schools I’m looking at (besides UVA, which as a public in-state I can apply to early even with REA) that offer early action, so there would be no benefits to UChicago EA.
So basically, to give a bit of background:
STATS
ACT: 31 C; 33 E, 30 M, 32 R, 30 S, 36 W (score was a 31.25 and taken in December 2015…taking September SAT and hope to get it up to a 33/34, which should be possible based off practice tests, but who knows)
GPA: 4.56 W; 4.0 UW
APs: World (4), Human Geo (5), Chem (3), Calc AB (5), Lang (5), US History (5); will have taken 13 by graduation
Senior Schedule: AP Stats, AP German, AP Physics, AP Bio, AP Lit, AP Psychology, AP Gov
RANK: 3/~440 (top 1%)…by first semester senior year I should be 2/~440, but that’s minor anyway
SUBJECTIVE
my ECs look something like
- Global Leaders (somewhat of a global current events that aims at acknowledging news happening around the world that gets neglected from worldwide coverage) end of 11, 12 [pres and founder]
- German Club (founded Ein Stück Deutsch program to promote learning German in VA public schools…still working on this) 9-12 [officer 11, pres 12]
- Social Science Honor Society (trying to start some sort of social justice awareness initiative through this, but work in progress) 11, 12 [pres 12]
- Mu Alpha Theta 10-12 [officer 11, might run for reelection 12]
- Class Office 11, 12
- Track & Field 9-11
- Kumon (employment) 11, 12
- Contributor to Disney Princess forum (written ~100 articles dealing with issues such as sexuality, racism, as well as more light and fun topics…not expecting this to be viewed as exceptional, but gives insight on personality) 9-12
- Self-taught Norwegian (going to be hard to prove, but planning on listing it nonetheless) 9-12
- Completed NaNoWriMo (wrote 50,000 word novel in one month) 9
Also in NHS, National German Honor Society, Creative Writing Club, have pen-pals that I regularly communicate to, and I also track the pop charts on a week to week basis. I tried to sprinkle in some serious things (clubs, work experience), as well as some things that show my personality more like NaNoWriMo, Disney forum, Norwegian, etc. Thoughts on how these will be perceived?
Attended German Governor’s School btw, a selective summer program that only ~40 in the entire state of Virginia are chosen for and was National History Student of the Year at my school (but this is really minor/insignificant). Honor Roll/National Merit Commended/AP Scholar w Distinction fill in the other awards/honors. Really nothing too cool besides gov school I suppose.
Essays should be strong, I really enjoy writing and have a few ideas for the common app (haven’t started on supplementals for these schools yet)
Recs should be strong as well. My counselor and the two teachers I asked all love me and I have really strong relationships with all of them, so fingers crossed!
HOOKS: Well, I’m a white male so…yikes, but I’m first gen for what that’s worth!
My school regularly sends top students to top schools (Stanford, Columbia, Cornell, UVA, W&M, Swarthmore, Rice, Princeton, all from this past year), so I have hope even though I know it’s a crapshoot.
Anyway, besides that, I’m mostly looking for a school that socially isn’t a frat, party school, but I also don’t want a school that’s “all work, no play” (slightly worried about UChicago in that regard…I like pushing myself, but I want to have some off-time where I can not be stressed 25/7). I’m looking for something LGBT friendly (I’m gay) and by that I mean more than “they have a club or a program or wear t-shirts that say ‘I <3 the gays!’”…I would like there to be some sort of LGBT presence on campus, seeing as I’m going to be spending 4 years there and would hate to be in a high school situation where there’s only like 2 other gay guys there who don’t interest me (which I know all three of these schools will have, so I’m not too worried about that regard). Quirky, generous with aid, driven but not competitive, green, friendly + warm, focus on study abroad, and not preppy are all other descriptors that appeal to me. Also, being not in the middle of a city is a plus, but as long as I have a campus I’m good.
So, based off knowing a little about me/what I want, which of these schools seems the most “right” for me. Also, I know chancing is impossible, but which of these schools do you feel would warm up the most to me/appreciate my strong transcript/enjoy my slightly weird ECs and not mark me down for not being a researcher/world-saver/etc./be more lenient regarding test scores. Even if it’s: You won’t get into Chicago, but you definitely won’t get near Stanford or Yale, so apply for Chicago so you won’t embarrass yourself too bad. You won’t offend me, I know it’s an uphill battle, but getting some insight on possibly which of these schools I should choose to apply to early would be very appreciated!
TL;DR-Based off what I want and what I have, which of these schools is most for me? Which of these schools would I speak to most and would possibly speak back to me.
Thank you so much for reading this mammoth and if you write a comment I will forever be grateful! Have a lovely day to anyone reading this 
(Hopefully I posted this in the right place…I thought about putting it in Stanford or Yale or Chicago but I didn’t know…)