<p>So, does it? Admissions say on their site that it really doesn't but...</p>
<p>The admissions rate is higher. If you want to go to Yale, apply SCEA. But if you just want to game the system it's not worth the extra 4% or whatever. The applicant pool is stronger, but the rate is a little higher. Make of that what you will.</p>
<p>if going by your theory that regular is more difficult, then kids who get in during regular admissions are technically more talented than those that get in early, because they have to stand out in a tougher admissions round. that's pretty silly. it's all about the quality of the applicant, not during which round they apply. lol if you meet the kids that get in early, there is no difference between them and the regular admits. </p>
<p>so since the quality of the applicant is the same in both rounds, and you'd be wasting your time applying early if you just want an admissions boost. apply to yale early if it's your first choice and an acceptance would nullify your applications to other schools.</p>
<p>I'm just saying that some schools really like people who go ED for example etc.</p>
<p>I would say apply only if it's your first choice. It might not be TOO much in your favor (as with ED), but you'll get a response earlier with less applicants. =D</p>
<p>The admissions office says that there's no edge, but i personally suspect there is. An 18% admissions rate as opposed to a 6% rate is a big difference, and you're in a smaller pool. ^^^Also note that it's EA and not binding. </p>
<p>That isn't to say you can tell a difference between EA and RD students... but that's because the application process is holistic, and doesn't perfectly correlate with academic success in college. Someone who writes a stellar application isn't necessarily the same person who's going to have a 4.0 in college. Furthermore, it's not like you talk to people about your grades, so even if there were a difference you wouldn't be able to tell. Case-in-point: the vast majority of recruited athletes (who are absolutely held to lower academic standards in admission, although many perform to the same standards and could be accepted on their academic credentials alone) are indiscernible from other students... because the same majority are perfectly articulate and intelligent people, and because we don't talk about our grades very much.</p>
<p>Really? No talk about grades?? Wow. I am so ready to get out of high school!</p>
<p>keyboard29, i got in yale two years ago (before harvard, princeton..etc eliminated their early policies), but i know that the early pool is definitely a more stronger pool than the regular one. Even if the admittance rate is slightly higher, the difficulty is around the same. Also, because Yale knows that it's only early ACTION, it doesn't really show too much that you're 'for Yale'. I also know for one that more athletes and legacies get in early.</p>
<p>Anyway, there are many other schools that offer early action/decision so don't fret too much and choose the college you really want to get in for early.</p>
<p>^^ Yeah, that would be a big no. I think i heard maybe 3-4 people talking about their grades in my freshman year, and none of them were people i'd particularly want to be friends with...</p>
<p>thanks for the responses. frankly, I would apply to Harvard ED if they still had it, but Yale is my number two choice (of course, these are high reaches for me ;))</p>
<p>Yes. YES. the rate at RD is brutal - 5% or so, while the rate at SCEA is scary but manageable - 18% last year. You're telling me that the pool early is THAT much stronger? Anyone who says different must be kidding.</p>
<p>
I'd like to see your source.</p>
<p>@protagonist: on the admit rates? </p>
<p>for SCEA: Yale</a> Daily News - Early admit rate declines to 18.1 percent</p>
<p>for RD: Yale</a> Daily News - Admit rate falls to 8.3 percent note: the "8.3%" referenced in this article refers to the total percentage. I believe that the 5% is also cited in this article, however.</p>
<p>for the ultimate claim: I am an SCEA admit. To me, it just seems like basic logic that if you know that you want to go to Yale and know that your app won't change significantly from Nov. to Jan. 1, then why wouldn't you want to apply early? a 13% difference is a big deal, even with the minor adjustments that must be made to account for the somewhat stronger applicant pool.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Yale accepted 1,007 of the 17,925 applicants who applied regular decision in January, making for a regular-decision admit rate of 5.6 percent.
[/quote]
^ From the article phurley linked to</p>
<p>Wow, I did not know that - thank you for sharing the information. You've certainly convinced me, even in light of the (significantly) stronger applicant pool.</p>
<p>Edit- In a totally off topic note, I've officially graduated to "Junior Member" with this post.</p>
<p>It's actually worse than that. There were about 4,900 early applications and 17,900 RD ones. The regular decision admit rate would have been 5.6% if all the students admitted then came from the RD pool. But, in fact, not all the RD acceptees came from RD applications. Probably at least 2000 kids were deferred from the ED pool into the RD pool, and they're not in the 17, 900. The real RD admit rate is barely above 5%/</p>
<p>
[quote]
I would apply to Harvard ED if they still had it
[/quote]
</p>
<p>They NEVER had ED, they were EA.</p>
<p>I really wonder about the strength of the two pools. On the one hand, it seems to me that the SCEA pool could be much stronger, because it includes people who are only applying early to Yale--they can't apply anywhere else. That would presumably mean that they think they have a reasonable chance of getting in. RD, on the other hand, might contain a lot of applications by people who consider Yale a "super reach" but are applying just to give it a shot. On the other hand, the SCEA pool might contain a bunch of marginal applicants, such as legacies with so-so grades and scores, who hope that applying early will be their best shot of getting in. It's very hard to say.</p>
<p>I think it helped me. It shows that you have determination.</p>
<p>i think this year it was harder if anything to get yale early action than regular decision, since anybody qualified enough who wants to and has a good shot at HYP has no reason not to apply yale ea since its not binding. anybodys thoughts on this years results, where the ea acceptance rate plummeted but the RD one was actually up?</p>
<p>actually, the SCEA admit rate was 13%, not 18%.</p>