<p>I realize ED does help your chances</p>
<p>but does EA? what are the advantages for EA?</p>
<p>If you are talking about whether EA helps your chances, the answer lies in the stats of the individual schools. You can look up that info in USN&WR where they have a list of EA/RD acceptane percentages. If the numbers are close, it may not help you, as the early pool does include a number of special admits such as athletes. Though schools say that the EA pool has high qualified applicants, some studies have shown that is not the case. </p>
<p>The advantage of EA for colleges, is that they can offer a decision early which can "catch" kids who will then end the app process right there since they are not interested in spending their holidays and the rest of the school year sweating over college apps and decisions. Why bother with the Bucknell and Emory apps when you are in BC? You are done. Whereas if all three decisions were in hand at the same time, some kids will pick one of the other two schools. So there is a yield advantage in accepting kids early. It also allows a school to get an early peek at this years crop, and make decisions on the other apps with a little bit more info.<br>
Some schools, like my sons' highschool restrict EA apps, so that the kids are permitted to apply only to one school EA (I disagree with this practice strongly but it does exist). According to the GCs at our school, that give their EA apps an advantage. Kids who get accepted, say to BC, early, will drop any app for schools equal to or less desirable to them than BC. Their only other apps will be to schools like the ives and other highly selective colleges, where the chances of them getting into those schools is pretty low. They can focus on applying to more ultra selective schools now that they are in a school that they would not mind attending, so no safeties or matches are needed. They can focus on the "shoot for the stars" school. BC benefits in that many of those kids will not get into those highly selective schools, and they get the student without having to compete against other schools similar to BC.</p>
<p>For the student, there are many advantage for EA. It gets you jump started on the app process. You can use it for safety selections. You can use it as a litmus test as to where you stand. My son applied to GT, BC, Binghamton, and St Bonaventure early. He was deferred at the first aand accepted at the others. Now he had some idea where his selectivity was. Since he liked all three schools that accepted him, he could just shoot for the stars on the rest of his apps, or end the process right there. ST B ended up offerering him generous merit aid, he got a small grant at Binghamton, but the low state price made it a bargain, and he had BC to consider at the full sticker price. And he still had a shot a GT and if he really wanted to go there, he and his GC could have focused on getting into that school, with targeted correspondences and visits, there, something not well done when you have 8 other schools you are juggling as hopefuls. </p>
<p>While other kids are biting there nails and sweating deadlines and whether they get in somewhere, my son was done. No mid year transcript sent, so if he dipped in some subjects, he still had a whole half year to bring it up since only the final transcript with the final grades would be sent to the EA schools. (I was not happy about his logic on that one and the lack of work that ensued for a good part of the year, but them's the facts).</p>
<p>Instead of wondering about a bunch of college, he had the luxery of visiting just the 3 schools that accepted him, and thinking over the pros and cons of each, knowing that he could go to any of them, not like a hungry, hopeful wolf licking his chops at the visit, knowing the gauntlet necessary for the situation coming down to being HIS choice rather than the college's whether he even has a choice.
A drawback to EA that our gcs mentioned is that some kids will not go for more schools, just because they don't want to bother, and may "settle" for a school just because it is a bird in hand. A major drawback that makes it a bad choice for some kids is that all the test scores and grades have to be in earlier, and if you are a kid who could stand a boost that you are working on, it is smarter to wait until those higher marks come in. Also it can be a slap in the face to apply EA and get downright accepted or deferred, especially to a school you really thought would take you. That can add an element of stress to the app process.</p>
<p>thanks i really apperciate the respones. funny you mention gt and bc because those are the 2 schools that im considering applying to EA. I love both of these schools but I do feel that GT may be slightly out of my range. My first SAT wasnt so great but yesterdays went fairly well and I am hoping november will go even better.</p>
<p>But will bc and gt get my november scores?? or not?</p>