ED/EA Reach or Target?Answered
Hi, current high school junior here.
I've been building my college list, and was a little lost on which schools to apply early and which to apply regular. My #1 choice would probably be UPenn's M&T, but as you all might know the dual degree programs are super super super competitive. I was wondering whether I should stick to that for my ED choice or go with a hard target school that I'm a bit more likely to get into in terms of stats, ECs, etc. such as Emory, CMU, Duke, or Cornell (?).
I have a pretty good SAT as well as competitive ECs and lots of service/leadership related to M&T going on which suits me for their program, but my GPA is relatively weak so it's definitely a reach. However if I was accepted, I'd definitely go.
I've been hearing conflicting opinions-- some say I should apply early to the schools I'm most likely to get into, while others say I should give a shot to my reach schools early decision or early action and then apply to my more fit schools regular decision.
I'm worried that I'll miss out on good schools if I go with the first option and it's binding, but at the same time might not get the early boost if I go with the second.
Cost for me is not a deciding factor btw. I am first-gen but also an ORM and have no other hooks.
Thanks!
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1 answer
You have 2 yellow flags in your passage which is a "weaker GPA" and a "pretty good SAT". In the last ED cycle for UPenn the middle 50% for SAT scores was 1500-1560 and if you are an over-represented minority then I would err on the side of caution and submit not less than a 1550, especially if I was applying to the M&T program which has like a 2% admit rate. The avg. unweighted GPA at UPenn is 3.9 and climbing so if your UWGPA is like a 3.6-3.7, that's not going to bode well.
Since you are not a legacy, not a fac-brat, not a recruited athlete, and not a hooked applicant like black, latinX, indigenous, I would think hard and long about what upside there really is to applying early when you can use the extra semester of 1.) Grades, 2.) Test Scores, etc to boost your academic narrative and make your application the best it can be when you apply.
Since all the schools you mentioned are ED schools and not EA schools, my recommendation is not to apply to any of them ED, unless you are totally happy and excited to go to a CMU or an EMORY. If you are going to apply anywhere Early, I would perhaps consider applying to a couple EA schools so you have a place to land just to take the stress out of the waiting game for RD. I would look at schools like UVA, UMichigan, UNC, NEastern, UMiami. If you get in, at least you know you have a fall back.
Good luck.
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Thank you Cameron for another splendid answer! I always love reading your comments as they are super helpful and insightful. Yes, my SAT falls above that range, but my UW GPA is just a couple hundredths short of 3.9 (weighted is much higher), although I have straight A's junior year. Do you think another quarter of grades would help? I will certainly apply to those EA schools; you're right it's nice to have a place to land before RD comes in. Thank you!