<p>Can you only apply to one school EA?</p>
<p>nope, you can apply to an infinite amount early admission.</p>
<p>early decision is binding, and its one only my freind</p>
<p>so what are the benefits of applying ea/ed?</p>
<p>Some schools are single choice EA such as Harvard and Yale. In a case when you apply to such a school,you can only apply to that one school early decision or early action. Some early decision schools do not permit you to apply to early action schools in conjuction with their app. Some do not. Princeton is one that does not permit you to apply to other school EA if you apply to them ED whereas Duke has no such restrictions. You can only apply to one school with a binding ED since if you are accepted, you have committed to go that school. </p>
<p>The benefits of applying early are that you can get the process out of the way earlier, avoiding the stress that comes with the waiting. Stats have shown that many schools give you an admissions edge if you apply early, more so for binding ED, than EA. You can limit the cost of applications by just sending out the ED app, and if you get in, you can shred the other apps that should be ready in case the news is bad. Some schools have special early bird programs with first crack at the housing and merit money that is available only for the early kids.</p>
<p>There are, however, disadvantages,as well. For ED, you may change your mind, and you have signed a binding contract. You might get info about another school that you feel makes it a better fit. If you need or want financial or merit aid, you are not able to compare offers in a binding ED situation. Also once you are in a college, it sometime is very difficult to keep the momentum going senior year , particularly behaviourally and academically. And some schools reserve the better financial awards for the RD crowd.</p>
<p>I advise ED only if you are sure you want to go to a particular school, and that you will not have any regrets going there. I usually recommend bundling an early app with a safety type rolling or other safety early app, because an early rejection can really hurt and demoralise a student and family.</p>