<p>I know the difference between the two in terms of ED being binding and EA being open, but is there an advantage to applying ED over EA? I'm guessing there is otherwise there would be no reason to apply ED over EA. Is this advantage (if there is one) significant?</p>
<p>Well, there is no huge advantage of ED over EA, however, there are some points colleges consider for ED candidates.</p>
<p>The binding nature of ED ensures that colleges will increase their yield rates (the percent of accepted students who actually matriculate), and colleges are always looking to do that. As such, colleges may be more lenient and accept more students, simply because they know those students will definately attend. </p>
<p>VERY competitive college (IE Yale, Princeton etc.), however, don't see this as particularly important. The remarkably highe yield rates of these colleges (due to there being virtually no colleges better than them), makes concerns of yield rates negligent to admissions decisions. At less competitive (but nonetheless competitive) LACs, yield rates are more important.</p>
<p>EA doesn't have this advantage, so I don't see a very noticeable advantage to EA. EA only shows demonstrated interest, however, it is not as significant as ED.</p>
<p>And of course...DO NOT apply ED just because you want to get the admissions process over with or feel like you have to improve your chances by applying ED. If you want to apply EA, sure, go for it...don't expect any big boost, but go for it. But unless you are absolutely, 100%, without a doubt sure about a school, don't go ED there. </p>
<p>Also, the early advantage is largely a statistical misnomer. Early applicants are often more qualified than the overall RD round, and the admissions rate is accordingly higher. In addition, especially in ED, you are competing with a lot of legacy/special cases candidates, so that inflates the admissions rate as well.</p>
<p>Make sure you don't apply early if you are going to retake tests, or have a chance to get your rank/gpa up a bit.</p>
<p>advantagious - your post is not totally correct...usually ED candidates are statistically (SAT and GPA) weaker than their peers in the regular decision applicant pools...there's actually been some substantial educational research done on this. however, early action applicants tend to be stronger statistically than their regular decision peers. having worked at a number of institutions, i can tell you that, anecdotally, this is true. </p>
<p>however, you are correct in your assertion that there are there are a lot of "hooked" students (legacies, athletes, etc...) in the early pools. </p>
<p>i've posted about this in other threads...</p>
<p>Sorry...I know better than that too. I did leave it as early applicants in my original post, but I see that it is not clear what I meant. I meant to say that often times, at the most selective schools, Early Action applicants are more competitive. These are the kids who are confident enough in their applications not to feel like they <em>have</em> to do ED (not that all kids who do ED do it becuase they are desperate...I know that they isn't the case either). At least I got the other stuff about ED correct!</p>
<p>In my somewhat limited experience with witnessing the college admissions process, I've found that it is indeed true that EA, rather than ED, applicants tend to be very qualified for the EA colleges to which they apply. I think the most primary reason for this phenomenon is the fact that such students want to know that "they're at least going SOMEWHERE," and as such apply to their safety schools EA, rather than, obviously, ED.</p>
<p>I do think a lot of students apply ED simply because they believe they have an advantage or a "boost" in the admissions process. Again, in my experience, such applicants have not faired well as they were below the admissions standards of their respective colleges and as such were deferred/rejected.</p>
<p>What is frustrating to me as an admissions person is that early programs are designed for students who know what their top choice is...whether it is a school that offers EA or ED, these programs started solely for the purpose of letting you guys know early about your top choice...Brown and Harvard started the process way back in the '70s (yes, I was around then...) but since it has gotten nuts. That's why Brown went to ED a few years ago from EA...they found that many of their EA applicants were simply using Brown EA as a barometer re:their chances of getting in to an Ivy; they switched to ED to ensure that only kids who were 100% sold on Brown would get an early decision from them...that's why their ED admit rate is the lowest of the Ivies, too, I think...they don't mess around with ED! </p>
<p>I tell prospective students at my school that if you are sure about a school, go for the early plan; if there is any doubt in your mind, whether it is the culture of the school, financial aid concerns, distance, WHATEVER, do not apply early anywhere. take the time to decide what schools are matches for you rather than casting your net so wide that you wind up applying to 20 schools. if you do your homework early and are also honest with yourself about where you think you will be happy and where you have a decent shot of getting in, you probably won't be surprised by the decisions you receive, whenever you decide to apply.</p>
<p>Here is my question: What if one applies before one visits the school? My reach school is half-way across the country, so I won't see it before my in-person interview, which is required to take place after the application is submitted. Although I REALLY want to go there, I won't making a binding decision before I have seen the school. If I apply non-binding early, is it possible (in most cases) to, for all intents and purposes, change from non-binding to binding? Or do I just have to say, "If I get in, I WILL be coming," and leave it at that?</p>
<p>Edited to add: I just discovered that my reach doesn't have ED, only EA, but it still might be a needed answer for others.</p>
<p>Again, if you are not 100% sure that a school is you top choice, don't apply early decision or action - if you need to see the school before making the decision of whether or not to attend, don't commit yourself to anything early.</p>
<p>AdOfficer, while I agree with you that early admissions has gotten crazy (which I why I, personally, I am very happy that the tide is turning against it...I don't care what the motivation is on the college's part, I think the system is more broken than beneficial), what is the downside for the student in applying (obviously, non-binding) EA? I understand the downside if the school is Single Choice EA (which is what I did, and got deferred), because then you are giving up your early applications elsewhere, but why if the school is just EA? </p>
<p>Personally, I wonder if the best solution is just to get rid of early programs and maybe move up the application deadline a few weeks to accomodate the extra applications in the RD round. I guess that is more beneficial to kids like me who refused to apply ED anywhere than it is to the colleges, though.</p>
<p>there is a psychological factor to all of this, and when you apply ea somewhere, you are often times pressured to matriculate by the institution having not explored all of your options if you are admitted. there have been studies on this and, quite frankly, its a little creepy...also, financial aid packages can be smaller for those admitted through ea. in addition, you stand a greater risk of getting denied flat out in ea if you are a marginal candidate for admission than you would in rd - in ea you are usually competing with the whole ea pool - usually the most academically competitive kids applying to the school period (which is usually what the pools in ea are at places like harvard and yale) - whereas in regular decision, decisions are made based more on regional applications.</p>
<p>Oh, I didn't know that there was a lot of pressure to come if you were admitted early (as I said before, I was deferred). Of course, I would hope kids would not be so easily swayed, but I see a lot of evidence that they are, so I can see that the heat might be a bit much for some. I would imagine, though, that candidates who got outright denied early would be pretty unlikely to be admitted RD...but I see your point.</p>