US Common App and Applying

[emmak]

Hello... I've decided to apply to some colleges in the US as well as the UK, but I'm having some snafoos with the Common App.

Question 1.) The questions are simple enough, but the problems come with the Secondary School section. You see, I graduated from high school in the US in 3 years, which means I have a GPA, class rank, ACT scores, etc. And now, I'm starting my last year of IB in Finland, meaning that I have two different secondary schools that I could put on the list. The section says "School You Now Attend (or school you graduated from)". But I'm assuming that this applies to people who have taken a skip year(s) but are still applying as freshmen. So according to the question, I should put my Finnish school and IB classes... but I won't have scores to report for any of those classes until July of next year. So my question is: should I submit details of my US high school or my current Finnish high school??? Whichever one I don't submit for the Secondary School section will go in the other details box. Any thoughts? I would ask my IB Coordinator but he's clueless when it comes to the US.

Question 2.) Early decision, early action, or regular? I plan on applying to Brown, which definitely looks to be my first choice. Since I AM an international student, I would appreciate getting a decision in December so that the visa, health insurance, dorms, classes, etc. can all be planned. Is early decision a good choice? Any pros/cons? I've seen that there's a slightly higher chance of getting accepted under early decision than regular... so when applying to an Ivy school this couldn't hurt, right?! Thoughts/comments?!

Thanks for the help guys! Early decision deadlines are Nov. 1 so I'm trying to get my thoughts all sorted before school starts this Monday and then I need to start the whole process!

[sweetnsimple786]

There are special circumstances at times about that section, but I think you should put your school in Finland as the school you now attend. [The 'or graduated' part could be if the student graduated early or took a year off after completing secondary school or something.]

Then where it says "Secondary Education Interruption" check the "did/will change secondary schools." Upload a document that explains everything.

Then in the other details box, include your GPA, test scores, etc if you didn't when you uploaded the document.

Cons of Early Decision or Action. You've got extremely dedicated brilliant students applying early. They all know they want to be at Brown. So you have a harder time standing out. But even if you get deferred, your application will be looked at when the admissions officers read the regular decision applications. [Well I'm not sure if this is true for Brown, but it should be... check its website.] Usually for EA/ED vs Regular Decision, people say if you feel your application is just about as spotless as it can be by the time EA/ED time rolls around, send it. But if you're struggling--well you don't want to send something that you don't feel is your best work. It's like academic suicide! I don't know about Brown, but most colleges don't offer both Early Decision and Early Action. It's usually one or the other or neither. ED is binding. Brown's your top choice in the US, but what if you get a better offer in the UK? EA seems safer to me. Also there are some types of EA where you can only apply Early Action to one school or three schools. The school's website will have details on its EA program. For ED, you can only apply ED for one school, period, I believe.