Early action or Regular decision?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Boston College
1

Boston College says that their Early action program is more competitive than their Regular decision program, so why would anyone apply Early? (Besides getting the stress over). I was planning on applying early, but I might not after hearing it’s more competitive. I am planning on applying to the CSOM.

2

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so why would anyone apply Early?

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Because they’re optimistic they may get admitted?
or:
Because, depending on their application’s strength, if they don’t get admitted EA, then they’ll simply be deferred to the RA pool.
or:
They’ll get denied all together, which is probably reasonable to think they would have gotten denied in RA as well.

It’s up to you.

3

Dear onmyownway : Some additional reasons, true and untrue, to consider the Early Action program at Boston College follow.

First (true), the Presidential Scholars Program, the only merit based scholarship program offered at Boston College, draws its candidates exclusively from the early admission pool. Second (false), there is a feeling that additional aid money would be available for those who move earlier in the admissions process.

Some students who visit Boston College are sure that it will be their top choice and to that end want to have a decision as soon as possible to avoid the stressful January to May period. I think that the deferral from EA to RD is a weak argument since we have seen numerous posters here move from EA Deferred to RD Waitlisted to ultimately rejected. So, I am personally not sure that the “second chance” argument is a winning one although EA applicants might feel that it is.

In closing, the EA vs. RD acceptance rates vary from year to year; most notably, the application count in each round can drive very different statistics. Deciding to apply EA because it is easier is missing the point of an EA application : the EA round is for those who would truly commit to the University on acceptance.

4

Another reason to apply early is that you find out by Dec 25, so if you get in, you can actually choose not to apply to some of the other schools on your list.