Admission Question (ED vs. EA vs. REG)

<p>This is probably a stupid question however Im going to ask anyway. What is the difference between Early Decision, Early Action, and Regular Decision. I know what they are ED (binding only can apply ED to one school), EA (Nonbinding as many schools as you want), and Reg. Im talking from an admissions standpoint. I dont plan on applying ED to any schools because I still have not made my final choice. I was wondering if I had a higher chance of getting accepted if I apply EA. I planned on doing this (EA) for all of my schools (OSU, Purdue, Miami, Cincinnati, ...). If so what are the advantages/disadvantages. What is the best to do to get in. Please input</p>

<p>I planned on applying in the first or second week in August</p>

<p>EA usually does not give the applicant an advantage as far as acceptance rate goes. What is nice about EA is that an early acceptance takes a lot of the pressure off of the remainder of the admission season (“At least I know I’m going somewhere”). Depending on your list, you may decide not to apply to some of the other colleges on your list once you receive an EA decision.</p>

<p>Applying well before the EA deadline does not make any difference. I would only suggest applying so early in the year for a Rolling Decision college.</p>

<p>If you do EA, don’t do it for TOO many schools. A couple is plenty. You’ll have less time to work on your app, but I think the acceptance rate would be slightly higher (but not significantly, and may simply be due to overqualified applicants applying early). I agree, don’t apply in August unless it’s rolling.</p>