It’s the way she gets her rage out that I don’t want to deal with.
I talked to my guidance counselor about it and she gave the whole « parents have good intentions speech » and my mom formed a good bond with her early on. So I’m just going to take a gamble
Early Action…EA is Not binding.
Early Decision…ED is binding.
Why is early decision lower? This doesn’t make sense???
I would think the opposite. I was initially going to EA
I mean my moms top choice is Barnard but I’m going to push spelman and see if she changed her mind
Oh, terribly sorry for my thoughtless oversight.
Agnès Scott has both. I only saw their ED before
You’re okay I appreciate the recommendations
I would suggest applying early action anywhere you can. You will have some early admission decisions which can help drive additional applications…or not.
Many schools have early application deadlines for merit consideration. Don’t miss those deadlines.
What’s the max EA you would reccomend
If every school on your list has an early action option…just do them. Once you start doing applications, just get them done. Be careful not to apply ED…that mistake has happened!
Okay thank you. I’ll come back when my scores come out and my junior year gpa/rank are finalized 
If Mom is that sold on Emory, you could make that your ED school, and apply EA to Spelman and Agnes Scott. That way, if the unlikely occurs and you get accepted to your ED school, you’ll still be going to Atlanta and not nearby NYC. And if not, you can spin the women’s colleges as the next best thing because you can still take classes at Emory. Sell the whole “Emory is my dream school” narrative (because public health, relationship with CDC, blah blah blah) and the others as backups that will still give you access to said dream.
Howard also has EA (doesn’t seem like it rises to the top as an ED choice, but good to keep it in the mix as an EA school, since you like it enough, uncle loves it, and location is good).
An early app to Pitt also might not be a bad idea. Another nice student city that’s on the far side of PA so not too close, a great public health school, and rolling admissions so you could have a sanity-saving (non-binding) acceptance nailed down early. The app opens in August and you can apply right away, and hopefully get a decision within a month. https://www.sph.pitt.edu/academics/bachelors-program
And to reassure you, it takes at least 6-7 hours to go from NJ to Pitt.
She prioritizes Barnard because you know, Columbia. She wants to walk around saying her daughter goes to an Ivy.
My friend goes to Emory so I’m going to ask him about it to see if it would be a good fit for me too.
I’ll try for UPitt too. I know they have very good science and research programs
It’s 3 and a half hours from Lancaster which my dad would drive but it’s seeing his defiant daughter vs seeing the rest of his family. He used to work deeper into PA but I doubt he’ll try and visit me unless my mom makes him, and even then. I think he’s pretty easy to lie to.
Spelman had a domestic exchange with pretty much everyone 
. I think I can shift this to be viewed more favorably
Well, Emory also has ED2, if you have to do Barnard ED1. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
(Also, Barnard is on Spelman’s list of exchange schools. FWIW)
Im assuming ED2 is still binding? I’ll go with that but I don’t think I have the stats for Emory at all . Like with Barnard I don’t feel as bad becuase ED is a 30% acceptance rate and from the students I’ve talked to their application process was heavy on their personal story, « fit », and essays while obviously grades being a factor, but I don’t feel as bad as I’ve seen more « regular » people get in
For Emory I see like everyone being nerds getting rejected still and the applicant pool is a lot huger.
I’m sorrh for the rant when the goal is probably Spelman. I needed to let my thoughts out
Yes, ED2 is still binding. And I agree that the odds are against an acceptance, but if the binding apps make your mom happy and you wouldn’t be averse to going there if the decision actually goes your way, what’s the harm? You’ll also have EA and rolling apps in so that you have options if/when ED doesn’t work out, and if it does work out, fine! (Although I’m not clear whether you’d be fine with Barnard…)
Of course, if Spelman is your true first choice and you can get buy-in for a binding ED app there, great! Spelman doesn’t have an ED2 cycle, though, so they’d have to be your ED1 app to ED at all.
What you just said made it sound as if your goal with ED apps is to avoid rejection. While rejection stings, I don’t think there’s anything wrong (at all!) with being rejected from an ED school (or two!), especially if you like your non-ED schools just as well or better. Seems like a win-win to me - your Mom will know you took your best shot at an “elite” school, and you’ll have options you like just as well to fall back on. (A Pitt acceptance in Sept/Oct would be a fantastic fallback position, ending all debate about whether you have a “true safety” on the list or not.)
Spelman also has early action. These were the deadlines for this year:
EARLY DECISION
Application Deadline: Nov. 1
Decision Notification: Dec. 31
Confirm Decision: May 1
my note…I don’t think this early decision confirmation date is correct!
EARLY ACTION
Application Deadline: Nov. 1
Decision Notification: Dec. 31
Confirm Decision: May 1
REGULAR DECISION
Application Deadline: Feb. 1
Decision Notification: April 1
Confirm Your Enrollment: May 1