<p>My advisor recently warned me that --at least in our schools history--, applicants generally face a disadvantage in Early Action unless they are what she calls "superstars" (nationally ranked athletes with 4.0s, kids who cured cancer over their summer, etc etc). </p>
<p>Basically, the kids who really want to attend Yale and have stronger applications don't appear as compelling when compared to the other "star" applicants in EA. They are then deferred, and rejected.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, applicants with somewhat less interest in Yale and with slightly weaker applications are accepted in RD, as its easier to stand out.</p>
<p>Furthermore, she claims that deferrees get sent to the bottom of the RD pile for reconsideration. As she put it, "Yale's already seen you once- they wont look at you again until they've read all the new applications; and by then, most spots are full". </p>
<p>My advisor has been around for awhile, and I she normally is very straightforward. </p>
<p>Last year's SCEA acceptance rate at Yale was about 18%, the RD acceptance rate a mere 5.6%. That's a substantial disparity, even accounting for the fact that most recruited athletes are accepted in the early round. Yes, the common wisdom says the EA pool is stronger than the RD pool, and that's probably true. But it's not true that everyone accepted EA walks on water. Unless you need to retake the SAT/ACT or wait for first semester grades to bolster your GPA, I'd take my chances with EA.</p>
<p>I've never heard anyone else suggest that it was a disadvantage to apply EA if you are not at least something of a superstar. Honestly, I don't know how anyone could tell. So many great kids get rejected, and so few admitted. Most of the ones who are admitted are at least quasi-superstars, and the one's who aren't are only a tick below that. You would have to have a hell of a database to be able to tell whether a just-sub-quasi-superstar had a better chance of admission applying EA or RD.</p>
<p>The stats dictate otherwise. Those kids who want another shot at the SATs or a semester of grades should probably wait it out, but those single digit acceptances for RD look pretty bad to me. What percentage of those who were deferred to the regular pool end up getting accepted? I saw the info once but can't remember how it came out.</p>
<p>My teacher told me that to be entirely fair, the group of applicants who submit EA/ED apps may not be statistically comparable to those who apply regular decision. They may have a higher acceptance rate because they are, on average, more qualified. This could even make intuitive sense, because it might be oversampling the group of students who are particularly proactive about their college admissions. These may be intrinsically more desirable applicants, on average, due to higher test scores, better grades, or more choice extracurriculars.</p>
<p>I heard about this too: "deferrees get sent to the bottom of the RD pile for reconsideration."</p>
<p>but if you're somewhat of a superstar, i would apply early.</p>
<p>you know, for EA the school won't reject you the first time around.. you either get accepted EA or deferred to regular decision.. then after that you're either accepted, wait-listed, or rejected</p>
<p>people do get rejected? i was led to believe that EA doesn't reject.. just defers or accepts.. hmm, well, if i don't get accepted EA, I hope i get deferred and not rejected</p>