Some colleges offer ED2 after ED1. (Usually no early action, but RD is the only other option for some). Do your chances go down with ED2 vs. ED1? It certainly would give you a chance to see any acceptances and packages from EA schools before going the ED route. Talk to me about this option. Thank you all!
A lot of schools do not release the information for ED1 and ED2 separately in their reporting, so it is hard to tell. At one that did report them separately last year, it was a 51% admission rate for ED1 and a 35% rate for ED2, and a 16.7% rate for RD. The overall RD/ED1/ED2 rate for the year was 19.7%.
At that school at least, ED1 gave the best odds, but ED2 was still a lot better than regular. Then again, recruited athletes, etc., are part of the ED1 pool, so it is hard to know which is better for an unhooked applicant.
A lot would also depend on the school in question, top schools like UChicago and Vanderbilt are going to have a significantly stronger pool for ED2 as applicants for HYPS take there deferral to RD as a rejection and now have to decide if something outside of HYPS is for them, and many do. So the percentages of admittance may be the same between ED1and ED2 but the pools may be stronger for ED2. Anyway the best bet will always seem to be ED1.