<p>I do wonder when top 10 schools with SCEA say there is no advantage or preference given for applying early and yet their admit rates are definitely higher early than RD, some even 3 to 7 times higher. I can’t believe the early group is 3-7 times more qualified.</p>
<p>^ That could be. Since one can only choose one SCEA school while all those with similar credential but not accepted ED/SCEA at other top schools will apply to the RD round. Not necessarily the quality of applicants are different, but definitely the quantity would be different.</p>
<p>^ Some SCEA who were accepted will still apply RD whereas clearly those who got in ED will not be. The RD pool is therefore likely a bit more diluted in “firepower”. In reading the acceptance threads in the early rounds though, I often cannot discern any quantitative differences between those who were accepted and those deferred. I would accept that the RD pool is less “intense” but I don’t see that translating to 3-7x difference in acceptance rate.</p>
<p>More athletes and legacy SCEA as well, but yeah, I don’t think that those schools are 100% truthful when they say that there is no advantage to applying SCEA.</p>