EA vs. RD - the right strategy

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
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<p>I haven't been on this forum for a while. Today I stopped by: it brought the memory back from 2 years ago when my son was applying EA to Chicago. (also a deadline for a few schools EA for my second son, NOT U chicago). Usually, I don't post stuff on chances and what not. But I am in a mood to do some public service. So, here we go.</p>

<p>I found some threads where students are advising each other, something to the effect that someone who already applied EA should change it to RD in hope of getting better scores, etc.</p>

<p>Look, children. Know the facts. Last year, the EA acceptance rate was more than double the RD acceptance rate. It was clear by all analyses by knowledgeable adults on this board that the admissions committee did BOOST the odds for the EA applicants for the same stats. Check this thread for all the wise advice.</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-chicago/994121-does-chicago-ea-have-better-chance.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-chicago/994121-does-chicago-ea-have-better-chance.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Furthermore, Chicago EA has no restriction. Chicago also defers those who were not accepted in the EA round to the RD round. If I remember correctly, a lot of kids with very questionable stats were deferred to RD, rather than being rejected. I was left with the impression that the kids who were rejected outright during the EA round were not even close and never had any chance to begin with. It is also my understanding that if you get deferred to RD, you can supply your mid year school report with better grades and update your SAT with the Dec test results, etc.</p>

<p>So, there is absolutely NO risk in applying EA, and only benefits. Even if this year, the admissions office decides not to give such a boost like last year, again, you have nothing to lose.</p>

<p>THE ONLY THING you need to confirm is whether indeed a student deferred from EA to RD can supply new, better SAT scores. I would be shocked if they don't. Every school I know of allows that.</p>

<p>The only reason why you should not apply EA is, if your essays are REALLY bad, and there is no way you can turn in a good essay with the time left today. I believe the essays cannot be replaced if you get deferred to RD. But then again, even here, I am not sure.</p>

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<p>Well, this is normally great advice.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, today is the deadline for Early Action, so it’s a bit late… and might discourage some RD applicants.</p>

<p>Honestly, though, we don’t know how the admissions office is going to admit this year. Last year, as Nondorf’s first year, might be seen as a trial run. EA admit rate will almost certainly be higher than RD, as it is at every other elite institution, but we don’t know how much higher… the gap might close significantly this year (I would expect that it’ll close slightly - maybe ~20% EA, ~10% RD; last year was 28% EA, 11% RD).</p>

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<p>I was mostly responding to some really misguided advice students were giving each other that some EA applicants should change their application to RD by contacting the admissions office.</p>

<p>There were enough threads on this issue last few months, I assume anyone who bothered to do some research got all the input they need and got their EA application ready in time.</p>

<p>Even if the acceptance gap closes between EA and RD, I still assume that the EA acceptance rate will be considerably higher. Your numbers (20% vs. 10%) still show a very significant advantage, even if we assume that the EA pool is a bit stronger (which is still not verified yet).</p>

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<p>Can you point me to where the EA stats are for recent classes?</p>