<p>I am looking to apply to Notre Dame next year (I am a junior in HS) and was pondering on the idea of applying early. At Notre Dame it is non binding, meaning if you get in you are not bound to go there. So, what are the advantages and disadvantages to this situation? I have decent stats (31 ACT, 3.95 GPA, 7 AP classes, double legacy) and was wondering what the best thing for me is.</p>
<p>You should be fine. Get grades up if 3.95 is weighted.</p>
<p>@bouncer it’s UW. but what are the advantages to early action?</p>
<p>I’m not sure if ND considers EA as interest to the school but most colleges have higher acceptance rates of legacy EA applicants and you get to know your decision early.</p>
<p>ND is a great place and I hope that you get in if that is what you want. Make sure you find other schools where you can see yourself as well. Lots of qualified students with the good stats do not get in. I heard the median scores (sat / act) are a good bit higher for EA admits than for regular admits and those are high. </p>
<p>Think about asking your adcon whether you should apply EA. if your adcon is supportive go ahead. if not, then you have to decide whether to wait or ignore the advice. If you are set on applying EA, then do not ask.</p>
<p>@westcoastcali17 I have heard that you should only apply EA if you are a very strong candidate. And because I am at the low end if the range for ACT and I am hoping the double legacy is a clincher for my admission, I was thinking regular admission would be better. With that said I have heard that legacies should always apply early.</p>
<p>The adcon is a great source of information and advice. She is the one from the admissions offices who reviews the application and advocates for the candidate. If the source for “what you have heard” is more reliable or more influential than the adcon, go with it.</p>
<p>When I applied EA earlier this year I was wondering the same thing. When I asked they told me that it has no effect on the admissibility of the applicant, the applicant simply hears back in mid december rather than late march. However, if you apply EA and are on the edge they will defer you to the RD round. You will only get flat out rejected if you weren’t that ND was looking for regardless of when you applied. They also suggested that if you are looking to take another shot at standardized tests, get grades up, etc then apply regular because the better scores, etc in the application will only be beneficial and there is no true admission advantage to applying EA. </p>
<p>I’m a senior and got into ND early action this fall and will be attending. My GPA and ACT score were very similar to yours and I am a legacy. Not sure what your extracurriculars are like (I spent a lot of time doing only a couple things) but based solely on your test scores I would say that you have a pretty good shot EA (i’m not an adcom but just basing this off of my results) and doubt that they would flat out reject you EA. Feel free to message me if you have any questions!</p>
<p>I think the data show more legacies are rejected than admitted. I do not think you would want to apply EA if you are a borderline candidate even if you are a double legacy. Either you trust the adcon, your better source, or you go with your gut. For most applicants, the best resource will be the adcon. The adcon can tell if you if you are borderline and can advise you on whether EA or RD is better for you. The adcon should have a sense whether 2 or 200 other double legacies from your region are applying. Remember, that the adcon is your advocate before the admissions committee.</p>
<p>Also, I would caution you against expecting the same outcome as someone else with “similar stats”. Those comparisons can give broad indications of the type of student who may get in. However, you can usually find someone with inferior record who got in. The flip side is also true, you can find someone with a superior record who got denied. As outsiders, we will never have the whole picture why Joe (2100 & 3.95) got in while John (2150 & 3.90) got rejected. GPA and SAT are only a couple of the factors.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>