<p>Hello, I want to know if there's a difference in your chances whether you're an EA deferral or a RA applicant.</p>
<p>ND reserves EA to cream of the crop applicants. So for example, if you don’t have a 33 ACT or 730/730/730 SAT, you should wait for RD. They are basically trying to accept the “no doubters.” So if you are marginal or non cream of the crop applicant, wait for RD. If you are no-doubter, then go for EA.</p>
<p>i think what the OP meant was do deffered applicants have any advantage or face a disadvantage vs. regular decision applicants. from my understanding, the deffered students are just put into the the regular applicant pool and looked at likewise. There is essentially no difference between the two as far as i know, but i could be wrong.</p>
<p>Well, I’ve heard conflicting stories here. Some have said that if you get in during RD, you would have been at least deferred for EA. Others say that it is better to apply RD if you aren’t a shoe in for EA.</p>
<p>The regional reps are pretty good about giving a “read” on whether or not to apply EA. If you are really interested in Notre Dame, get to know your regional rep and let them guide you, not only on whether to apply EA, but also what to work on to strengthen your application if they suggest RD.</p>
<p>I did email my rep my stats and she actually recommended EA so they will advise you if you ask. They’re looking for at least an ACT of 33 and top 3% of graduating class. If you have that and there’s no real chance that you can improve your stats over fall semester then apply EA. </p>
<p>I have heard that it’s tougher to get an acceptance after a deferral. I think they only accept about 20% of the deferrals or something like that. So I’d at least check this year’s EA acceptance thread and see how I measure up before I’d apply EA.</p>
<p>Dome, I think you’re misinterpreting the data. If 20% of the deferrals get accepted during the regular round, as opposed to 25% of the regular entrants, that doesn’t mean it’s “harder” for deferrals to get in, as if they had to measure up to some higher standard. What it does suggest is that the deferrals as a whole are slightly less qualified (or desirable) than the regular decision applicant pool as a whole. </p>
<p>There may indeed be some stigma attached to being a deferral that makes it more difficult to gain acceptance during the regular round, but if there is it’s much more difficult to measure than you’ve suggested.</p>
<p>I’d think the primary downside to a deferral is a bruised ego, but being deferred also has an advantage over regular decision. It gives you the opportunity to improve your application in areas where improvement is needed, with direction from your guidance counselor and/or regional ND rep. RD applicants typically do not have this benefit.</p>
<p>You’re probably right TJ. But I just figured that if your application was good enough to get a deferral, as opposed to an outright rejection, then your application is at least competitive with the accepted RD applicants. Based on that, I thought that an acceptance rate of 20% would be too low. On second thought, it’s probably wrong to automatically assume that all of the deferrals would be as qualified as the RD applicants.</p>
<p>However, I don’t really see any advantage in getting a deferral. Just speaking from my own experience and what I’ve read on CC, I think there’s too much false hope put on the opportunity to improve your application. I don’t think I would have applied EA if I didn’t get that feedback from my rep.</p>
<p>carnivore2: Please remember that ND admissions focuses on CR and Math in the SAT - writing is secondary.</p>
<p>Dome, whether you put too much hope in something is up to you. If your objective is to get into ND, and if you believe yourself to be a borderline candidate, you can take a single shot in RD, or you can perhaps get a second chance through EA with deferral. Personally, I’d rather take the opportunity to find out sooner rather than later where I stood, and try to improve my position based on the knowledge and feedback of others who understood the decision criteria. But I won’t deny that going this route can have some negative impact, bruising your ego and perhaps even changing your perception of the school.</p>