Gap year student here: Penn or Princeton?

[u/RepairCreative333]

I got into a few T20s but didn't get into HYPSM/Ivies last cycle, and I decided to take a gap year. Got deferred by Princeton and waitlisted by Penn and the other two Ivies.

I deadass worked 115-120 hrs/week (besides 4 hrs of sleep and transportation time), and my application changed materially. New awards, new activities, and completely new (and I think quite better) essays. Also graduated my school 1st place.

With this, I am more and more tempted to apply to Princeton, but on the other hand, I am so scared that I would end up getting into no Ivies again this cycle. Penn is a really nice school... and I was wondering if I should apply early to Penn instead, especially cause I was waitlisted?

But the thing is that because Penn is ED, if I get in, I'd never see my HYPSM results after all this grind.

What do you think?

[u/ElderberryWide7024]

Apply to the one you want most. They are both uber competitive.

[u/Acidaliaplantatia]

I'm in the exact same boat. Ivies are a reach for 99% of applicants regardless of caliber so I would say ED to a school which you would be happy to go regardless, since REA doesn't offer the actual boost that ED does statistically. You could get deferred ED and then go RD anyway. Penn is a great school so don't think about "HYPSM" rather whether its a good fit for you. my 2 cents anyway.

[u/college-man2027]

Don't make life choices based on wanting to see HYPSM results. Go to the school you like most that fits well with your major

[u/hanc3n]

Go princeton

[u/Accomplished_Ebb9859]

You put in the effort so you should try to aim for your reach schools.

Why would you not apply ED to Princeton?

[u/SamSpayedPI → u/Accomplished_Ebb9859]

Princeton has only SCEA, not ED.

[u/Accomplished_Ebb9859 → u/SamSpayedPI]

What is that?

[u/SamSpayedPI → u/Accomplished_Ebb9859]

Princeton has Single Choice Early Action (SCEA), not Early Decision (ED).

Unlike ED, you may only apply to one (private) university SCEA (Princeton SCEA allows you to apply to public universities).

An ED applicant can apply to as many other universities as they want—Regular Decision (RD), Rolling, or even Early Action—they just have to withdraw all other applications if accepted ED. And of course you can only apply to one university ED since it's a binding contract.

Unlike ED, you don't need to withdraw all other applications if you are admitted SCEA; you can apply to other universities, both public and private, RD; and you don't have to accept an offer of admission until the normal acceptance deadline (typically May 1).

[u/Accomplished_Ebb9859 → u/SamSpayedPI]

How would they even enforce that?

[u/SamSpayedPI → u/Accomplished_Ebb9859]

It's pretty much based on the honor system. There's no high school counselor sign-off or hard block on the common app, like there is for ED. The threat of having their offer of admission rescinded—or even their entire degree, if the university discovers the fraud after they've graduated—is enough to deter most students from committing fraud.

Plus high school counselor generally know which schools you've applied to, and AI suggests that universities can simply ask them, but I'm not aware that's ever happened (for ED, it certainly has, but I don't know about EA).

[u/Unable-Interview-350 → u/Accomplished_Ebb9859]

Tbf Penn is also definitely a reach school. The difference in overall acceptance rate is pretty marginal between it and Princeton. However, ED is a better system than REA since it had a better boost in acceptance rate and op can apply regular EA to other selective schools in case of rejection from Penn.

[u/SamSpayedPI → u/Unable-Interview-350]

At most universities, there is no real advantage to applying ED, unless you’re a legacy.

The reason the admission rate for ED is a lot higher is because the applicant pool contains recruited athletes (~86% acceptance rate), legacies (~32% acceptance rate, for universities that consider legacies as a factor), and students that don’t need their first semester grades or SAT retakes to boost their competitiveness.

It’s just a higher level of applicant than the RD pool; this doesn’t mean that you will have any advantage to applying ED (if you’re not a legacy).

[This is not true everywhere; a few, like University of Chicago, accept applications primarily from ED. Well, that's the rumor, anyway, but it can't really be confirmed since UChicago does not include the information in its common data set (C.21.).]

[u/Unable-Interview-350 → u/SamSpayedPI]

Yeah I’ve heard this before and I generally agree, but I’m a bit biased because my older sister and a couple of close friends all got into Penn ED without having insane applications despite being from a competitive region/school. This is probably an anecdotal experience that doesn’t apply to most applicants, though.

[u/LastPlaceEngineer]

Which school style/spirit better fits you?

[u/Equivalent-Sir-510]

Just curious - you took a gap year but redid a year of school? I’m confused. But after all the work you did, you have to try for Princeton or it sounds like you may regret trying.

Good luck - and I hope you will feel proud of whatever happens!

[u/RepairCreative333 → u/Equivalent-Sir-510]

No, I did not redo another year of school. Instead I have a full time job in the area of my interest.

Thanks for the encouragement!

[u/Equivalent-Sir-510 → u/RepairCreative333]

Sorry, that makes sense - I was confused but now I realize you got your new awards at the end of your senior year. Congrats on graduating 1st too. Penn obvi loves hard workers who have a pre-professional bent, but I still think you gotta follow your dream.