Anonymous
Post 06/27/2025 14:38     Subject: Which one out of these to EA, ED or RD?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Personally I would EA Princeton RD Penn for high caliber applicants. but the choice is highly personal.


Is my DD considered high caliber? Not fishing for compliment...I thought she would be considered average strong. She is top 5 kids at a well respected feeder private that sends kids to these schools, but all she has is academics + being well liked by teachers.


If you are at a true feeder, ask your school counselor for advice. In mine, kids with this profile without outstanding awards or ECs always got into Penn level school in RD, after being rejected by T5 REA.
Anonymous
Post 06/27/2025 14:38     Subject: Which one out of these to EA, ED or RD?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:DD's reach schools are (in this order of preference): Princeton (math or chemistry), Penn (math or chemistry), Carnegie Mellon (AI or chemistry). The rest will be targets and safeties.

Which of these would you EA vs ED (Princeton no ED), vs RD to maximize chance of getting into one of the 3 reaches taking into account the order of preference?

No hook, top grades (3.9) and score (1580), rigorous feeder private that sends kids to those 3 schools every year, above-average ECs but not amazing, great teachers letters.


I'm confused. Does she have no hook or is she at a feeder private?


She is at a feeder private. Is that considered a hook? I thought hook means legacy, athlete, first gen, national awards
Anonymous
Post 06/27/2025 14:36     Subject: Which one out of these to EA, ED or RD?
Anonymous wrote:The problem with SCEA to Princeton is you can’t apply early action to private colleges. Not sure if that makes a difference to you.


OP: since CMU and Penn are both ED schools, if she applies to one and gets lucky, she won't get a chance at the other 2. She would want Princeton the most, but if that's a long shot, I'd rather she ED the other two. But wonder if the other 2 would be just as unrealistic, given Penn is also an Ivy and CMU is CS
Anonymous
Post 06/27/2025 14:34     Subject: Which one out of these to EA, ED or RD?
Penn ED, Princeton and CMU RD
Anonymous
Post 06/27/2025 14:31     Subject: Which one out of these to EA, ED or RD?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Personally I would EA Princeton RD Penn for high caliber applicants. but the choice is highly personal.


Is my DD considered high caliber? Not fishing for compliment...I thought she would be considered average strong. She is top 5 kids at a well respected feeder private that sends kids to these schools, but all she has is academics + being well liked by teachers.



Any state-level or national awards? Tough major in terms of saturation.


Agree. If nothing standout here, Penn is the better reach.
Anonymous
Post 06/27/2025 14:27     Subject: Which one out of these to EA, ED or RD?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Personally I would EA Princeton RD Penn for high caliber applicants. but the choice is highly personal.


Is my DD considered high caliber? Not fishing for compliment...I thought she would be considered average strong. She is top 5 kids at a well respected feeder private that sends kids to these schools, but all she has is academics + being well liked by teachers.


She is high enough to a point where she doesn’t need to ED CMU, unless she is applying to SCS at CmU. But even if she is applying to SCS at CMU, that program doesn’t have much Ed advantage. So she is safe to RD CmU.

When she EA Princeton, she can’t at the same time ED Penn. but I think she is still competitive at RD Penn unless she is applying to Wharton. If not Wharton, she can EA Princeton, leaving Penn to RD.
Anonymous
Post 06/27/2025 14:21     Subject: Which one out of these to EA, ED or RD?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Personally I would EA Princeton RD Penn for high caliber applicants. but the choice is highly personal.


Is my DD considered high caliber? Not fishing for compliment...I thought she would be considered average strong. She is top 5 kids at a well respected feeder private that sends kids to these schools, but all she has is academics + being well liked by teachers.



Any state-level or national awards? Tough major in terms of saturation.
Anonymous
Post 06/27/2025 14:20     Subject: Which one out of these to EA, ED or RD?
Anonymous wrote:DD's reach schools are (in this order of preference): Princeton (math or chemistry), Penn (math or chemistry), Carnegie Mellon (AI or chemistry). The rest will be targets and safeties.

Which of these would you EA vs ED (Princeton no ED), vs RD to maximize chance of getting into one of the 3 reaches taking into account the order of preference?

No hook, top grades (3.9) and score (1580), rigorous feeder private that sends kids to those 3 schools every year, above-average ECs but not amazing, great teachers letters.


I'm confused. Does she have no hook or is she at a feeder private?
Anonymous
Post 06/27/2025 14:15     Subject: Which one out of these to EA, ED or RD?
Anonymous wrote:Personally I would EA Princeton RD Penn for high caliber applicants. but the choice is highly personal.


Is my DD considered high caliber? Not fishing for compliment...I thought she would be considered average strong. She is top 5 kids at a well respected feeder private that sends kids to these schools, but all she has is academics + being well liked by teachers.
Anonymous
Post 06/27/2025 14:12     Subject: Which one out of these to EA, ED or RD?
The problem with SCEA to Princeton is you can’t apply early action to private colleges. Not sure if that makes a difference to you.
Anonymous
Post 06/27/2025 14:11     Subject: Which one out of these to EA, ED or RD?
OP: reason I'm asking for advice here is while she has her preference, I thought she shouldn't EA Princeton if it means entering an Ivy lottery while wasting an ED on CMU. AM I right?

"AI" at CMU is artificial intelligence which is a specialty program under Comp Sci, so does this mean no chance. She could also do chemistry at CMU.

So how would you use the EA/ED/RD to maximize her chances for all 3?
Anonymous
Post 06/27/2025 13:51     Subject: Re:Which one out of these to EA, ED or RD?
Princeton is the best, shoot your shot there
Anonymous
Post 06/27/2025 13:50     Subject: Which one out of these to EA, ED or RD?
Personally I would EA Princeton RD Penn for high caliber applicants. but the choice is highly personal.
Anonymous
Post 06/27/2025 13:48     Subject: Which one out of these to EA, ED or RD?
What is “AI” at CMU? I heard of SCS at CMU, which is super competitive. Other than SCS and drama, CMU should be an easy admit, and should only RD there.
Anonymous
Post 06/27/2025 13:40     Subject: Which one out of these to EA, ED or RD?
DD's reach schools are (in this order of preference): Princeton (math or chemistry), Penn (math or chemistry), Carnegie Mellon (AI or chemistry). The rest will be targets and safeties.

Which of these would you EA vs ED (Princeton no ED), vs RD to maximize chance of getting into one of the 3 reaches taking into account the order of preference?

No hook, top grades (3.9) and score (1580), rigorous feeder private that sends kids to those 3 schools every year, above-average ECs but not amazing, great teachers letters.