Hi. Some colleges offer ED/EA/ED2. Do I have a better chance of getting accepted at a college by applying EA which is earlier (Nov.) but not binding, OR ED2 which is later (Jan.), but binding?
@harrietannie there is no uniform answer to your question.
Depends on the college. But neither will be as advantageous as ED1
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This would be if rejected from a college ED1. The advantage to EA is a college gets the application early, but it is non-binding. The advantage to ED2 is you commit, but the application comes in late, in January. Which has a higher acceptance rate???
Curious as to which colleges offers both EA and ED1 and 2? Our experience was that it was one or the other, not both, but we’re three cycles out at this point.
I would think binding ED2 would be more advantageous than EA because it helps yield management from the school’s perspective.
My question would be if there are deadlines associated with merit $ or honors that would make EA more attractive than ED2 for an applicant?
Does the school have any statistics for last years enrolled class? Many times they get published in the school’s newspaper.
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It depends on the school. There is no one answer. In general though, colleges probably favor and ED applicant over an EA applicant, because it’s binding.
I am trying to think of a college that offers both EA and ED2. Presumably that college would also have to offer ED1. That just seems odd.
There’re a few that offer both EA and ED1/ED2 (UChicago, CWRU come to mind). However, EA offered by these schools gives no admission boost to almost anyone (and it may even be detrimental in some cases).
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Some schools with ED2 with defer you from EA and ask if you’d like to apply ED2.
An example is U of Miami, which has an EA deadline of November 1 but those applicants won’t hear back until after the January 1 ED2 deadline. Note that their Financial Aid deadline is November 15.
Here’s a list of ED II schools but it doesn’t include Baylor and SMU which also offer ED II. You’ll see that the ED acceptance rates are far higher than RD/EA. If your yield is 25% or less, you greatly benefit from knowing these applicants are coming.
I would guess that EDII is almost always going to increase an applicant’s odds of admission more than applying EA. The schools use ED to protect their yield and to minimize uncertainty, and EDII works just as well as EDI from that perspective.
Some schools that my son applied to which offered all three: Macalester, Colorado College, St. Olaf, University of Richmond.
Colleges that offer both EA and ED are often engaged in a deceptive (for lack of a better word) practice. They use EA mainly to attact more applicants (who thought EA would give them an admission boost) to give the appearance of higher selectivity (thus more “prestige” in some people’s minds), while use ED1/ED2 to fill up their classes to increase their yields.
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My opinion…ED benefits the colleges because it’s binding. EA benefits the applicants because it still gives them the flexibility to apply elsewhere.
I guess my big question…are you a competitive applicant for these ED schools? The bump for applying ED won’t take you from being an applicant that doesn’t come close to their accepted students to one who is.
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I have a spreadsheet of schools S22 is considering. Of those, University of Chicago, Macalester, and Reed offer EA, ED1, ED2, and RD.
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Thank you very much.
Thanks, good to know!
Tulane, famously, because they pressure EA applicants to switch to ED1 or 2.