<p>Understand that you can apply ED to only one college. If accepted you agree to attend and withdraw all other applications. Columbia and Cornell have only ED, Notre Dame has only EA. EA is non-binding and thus you can apply to other colleges. You must check each college’s rules. ED colleges generally allow you to apply EA elsewhere but a number of EA colleges do not allow you to apply ED to another college. Also, a handful have single choice EA which prohibit you from applying ED or EA elsewhere (but not RD). If getting scholarships and lots of financial is needed, it is often recommended that you avoid ED.</p>
<p>Colleges often assert that applying ED does not create any advantage, likewise EA. However, the statistics defy that claim as acceptance rates for ED are often significantly higher than RD and for EA mostly higher than RD and the difference cannot be explained away by just higher stat applicant pools, athletes, or legacy applicants . See for example: <a href=“Early Admissions Statistics 2013 - Interactive Feature - NYTimes.com”>Early Admissions Statistics 2013 - Interactive Feature - NYTimes.com;