<p>i'm a little confused over ea. we wont be able to do any school application ed as we will need to know what financial/merit will be offered. my understanding is an ea application is not binding until May 1st ....what is the advantage or disadvantage of applying to a school ea vs rd other than you will hear sooner? is there a difference in acceptance rates ? our plan is to have all applications in and done by september/october at the latest...can you apply ea to any and all schools that offer that option?</p>
<p>From what I have seen, EA does not have a statistical advantage over RD applications, but this can vary. The big advantage to EA is having an early acceptance. There is a tremendous amount of relief in the knowledge that you have been accepted somewhere - makes the long wait for RD decisions much less stressful. Unless a college is Single Choice Early Action (such as Yale), you may apply to as many EA schools as you want. Also to Rolling Decision schools.</p>
<p>thanks!..i can certainly understand the “relief” aspect…you can feel the pressure/panic in some of the posts on here from parents/students waiting to hear! I think we will definitely choose that option if its available. at some schools he will also be applying for merit scholarships that are competitive and i understand we wouldnt have any word on those until that process is finished, (some wouldnt have the interviews etc until feb…so dont know if we would hear about admission either…have to check out the admission process at these specific schools)</p>
<p>Some believe that EA applicants, at some schools, have an advantage in receiving merit aid. An “early bird gets the worm” phenomenon.</p>
<p>It is not necessarily true that merit offers await the RD date and regular financial aid awards. I know my S received EA acceptances in December and merit award (a signifcant one) from one of the schools a few days later… before even the RD applicationg deadline.</p>
<p>I would recommend EA in most cases, especially if you have those apps already completed.</p>
<p>Really the biggest benefit to EA is that you know earlier. You have your safety schools in your pocket as securely as possible. You can then tailor the rest of your application accordingly. When a kid has Boston College as an EA acceptance, for instance, he can eliminate other schools that he would not prefer to BC or unless it is a money issue. To me, EA is a great way to secure a safety and a litmus test as to how you are going to do on the rest of your admissions. For example, a kid accepted EA to several schools and deferred at others can get a good idea where he will stand with the rest of his schools.</p>
<p>The advantages of EA had been listed above, and IMO, they outweigh the disadvantages in most cases.</p>
<p>However, since you’ve asked about the disadvantages, there could be some:
- If the standardize tests are to be retaken, you have less opportunities (if any) to do so
- The decision is made based on grades through junior year. If first semester senior grades can make the applicant look stronger, it might be worth waiting
- If you are expecting major awards (Intel, etc) that come later in the year, you might be better off in RD round.</p>
<p>“we wont be able to do any school application ed as we will need to know what financial/merit will be offered.”</p>
<p>ED is indeed not appropriate if you want to compare financial aid offers, but if there is that one dream school above all others, their ED acceptance can be freely declined without consequence if their FA offer is insufficient.</p>
<p>“is there a difference in acceptance rates ?”</p>
<p>At some schools, yes. Our DD1’s school is open about it: ED acceptance is about 50%, RD is about 33%.</p>
<p>thanks for all the input… hadn’t thought about things like intel etc…and he does hope to submit… in that case if he did submit ea and got accepted, couldnt he submit additional info later re intel or whatever, would that then allow a change in possible merit…or would any merit offered be set in stone from original app. or without the intel info would the chance of admission be jeopardized… which is worse?
re act we are hoping the one next week is the last but if not he could do again in june.</p>
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<p>The above is true for ED…but not for EA. Vossron, the OP was inquiring about EA (early action) not ED (early decision).</p>
<p>If you have better test results or awards after you send in the application, you can always send an update.</p>
<p>You can always send updates, but if you are rejected, the decision will not change…</p>
<p>As for merit awards, I would try to check it with each individual school. Many schools that give merit aid will award it later, when all the EA/RD apps are in. In that case your award updates will get there in time.
For rolling admissions school, applying early gives a definite advantage.</p>
<p>“the OP was inquiring about EA (early action) not ED (early decision)”</p>
<p>Thanks, but I want to be sure that the OP and others don’t avoid ED because they are afraid it is binding even if FA is insufficient (in response to the OP’s “we wont be able to do any school application ed as we will need to know what financial/merit will be offered”). But I was thinking ED when I answered about acceptance rates (sorry!). :(</p>
<p>just reviewed some of the schools, the ones with automatic merit have nov-dec deadlines for consideration so even if intel etc, wouldnt matter. and currently he meets criteria for the automatic ones with what he has. it will be the competitive (extra application/interview etc ones that could be affected…but most of those dont have decisions until later so could update in between)
one that he wants to try for will have to be in by sept 29th which may be a disadvantage…your hs school has to nominate and if your school is not on the list you can apply by a different process which is why everything has to be in so early…people with schools on the list get a few months longer.</p>
<p>followup question on updating: some of these require a resume and or an essay about what you would bring to the university/what you have done/what you will do…would it be tacky to put you submitted to a competition when you have no idea whether you would place or succeed (assuming you actually have submitted by the time you send NOT just planning to in case something happens and you dont) my first thought was you cant just put you submitted to something on resume. could be a double edged sword…if they know you have submitted they would expect update which is great if you succeeded in placing but not so good if you didnt. so still leaning towards dont mention it in initial application if going ea</p>
<p>vossron, as we qualifiy for NO need based…how could we turn down an ed? it is expected we would pay full coa… in our situation, merit is wanted (needed at some of his choices) but it is not my right to have. lots of kids out there are as qualified and more qualified than my son. the colleges have the right to determine who they give merit to and I didnt think you could turn down an ed based on no merit. we cant pay 40K a year for anywhere despite what fafsa says</p>
<p>“as we qualifiy for NO need based”</p>
<p>In such a case, there’s not much point in applying ED if you don’t expect aid and know you can’t afford it. But technically, if you apply ED for aid and don’t get enough (more than zero!), you can decline the offer (from the Common App ED agreement):</p>
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<p>thanks vossron. we knocked a bunch off our list as we know we cant afford them and either they dont offer merit or amount of merit is minimal. these financial talks have been heartbreaking at times…but he has a better understanding of what we can do or cant and understands that some are possible if merit aid good enough but not possible if he doesnt get merit. but would rather do it now, and all have the same expectations rather than get accepted to a school he may dream of, but cant go to realistically. Hopefully we have worked hard enough now to screen which ones he will apply to,</p>