Should I apply early action if my GPA is below average?
If you think your GPA will be better when factoring in midterm grades senior year, no.
What you mean to say is if you apply at regular admission date then your senior year midterm grades get considered?
@InvictusKnight MOST colleges for Early applicants will decide based on junior grades while SOME also wait for first quarter senior grades. Regular applicants always use at the very least first quarter senior grades while MOST also use first semester senior grades.
Of course things are relative…how far below average are your grades?
If you apply RD then college admissions offices will see your first semester senior year grades. So if you feel that you can do really well senior year and show them an upward trend in grades then maybe RD is better.
Most colleges don’t give a huge advantage to applying EA since it is non-binding but you can see if the college you are looking at has any statistics available.