<p>What are the benefits of either one^?</p>
<p>I wanted to apply to all of my schools EA just to get everything application-wise out of the way before December, but are there benefits to applying regular decision?</p>
<p>EA applications are almost always a great idea. You can often get an early acceptance or two, which takes some pressure off during the rest of the application process. The only time it might not be a good idea is if your GPA isn’t so hot and you think you can get very good grades during first semester of senior year.</p>
<p>The main advantage of applying regular decision is if your gpa can be improved greatly with those first semester senior year grades. At a school where you are a border line admit, an improving trend or an "A: in,say AP Calc senior year can boost your application when you had a not great sophomore year with a C in a course. It shows that you are coming back strong.</p>
<p>Though studies have shown that EA confers an advanatage to such applicants, it’s not as strong of an advantage that binding ED gives. So, you have to weigh the benefits of an additional first semester fo grades senior year vs the advantages to being considered early in the process when the rooms are still relatively empty vs filling up. </p>
<p>My one son did not apply early anywhere for that reason. He had mediorce/poor freshman year with a D in Algebra. BUt each term, he got better. Senior year he was taking all APs and a college course and the straight A’s he got in semester, I’m sure helped him. His counselor recs pointed this out just in case an admission officer missed the very strong improving trend. he was in the bottom quarter test score wise at a number of schools and his cumulative GPA was not at all impressive, but the improving trend, with the difficult courses made a big difference IMO… He was accepted over kids with much higher test scores that were at his school.</p>
<p>Just to add on, some schools have very high acceptance rates for early action applicants. For example, The University of Vermont has an overall acceptance rate of 76% or so (something around that number) but accepts 95% of it’s early action applicants. If there is a significant jump like that in a school that you’re applying to, I would suggest going for it unless there can be a GPA improvement like the other two posters said. :)</p>
<p>So would it make sense to apply to safeties early, but matches/reaches RD?</p>
<p>There’s usually some relief when that first acceptance arrives; you know you have a home. So it makes some sense to apply to one or two safeties you like EA. Our DD2 applied EA to her second choice school and was relieved to be accepted, so she had only one more application to prepare.</p>