<p>“It’s usually higher. For example at Duke it’s more than double. They admit like 15% of RD applicants and 31% of ED applicants. (19% overall)”</p>
<p>This has more to do with the different composition of the ED and RD pools than with chances of admission. ED chances my indeed be a tad higher, but these admit rates are misleading.</p>
<p>You have some very insignificant extracurricular activities, so I would focus on improving those.</p>
<p>ED acceptance rates tend to be higher, but that doesn’t mean you should apply ED to a school just because it gives you the best chance of getting in. You should only apply ED to a school you REALLY want to go to.</p>
<p>Yes, ED raises your chances considerably at all top schools. Stanford and Yale’s SCEA policies do not.</p>
<p>Johns Hopkins’ <20% goes to 30%+ during the ED rounds, but you are competing against a lot of really strong BME/pre med applicants + legacies/sports recruits + All the social and humanities students who know Hopkins is their cup of tea during the Early rounds.</p>
<p>ED is really meant to show your commitment to your top choice school, not necessarily an easier way to get in, but take from the rates what you will and good luck :)</p>
<p>The argument that early pools are more competitive is generally only true of EA, and particular SCEA early policies. Of HYPS, only two offer any sort of early program (SCEA, which Stanford and Yale offer). For the creme-de-la-creme, the truly HYPS-quality applicants, applying SCEA is a way to (potentially) have a top acceptance in December while still being able to play the RD game for H and P. Those applicants are unlikely to enter into a binding arrangement, leaving ED at lower-ranked schools free of the hyper-competition of RD. For the unhooked applicant with no particularly remarkable ECs, ED is one of the few remaining ways to increase your chances.</p>
<p>Remember. You are stuck with that college if you apply ED. Don’t pick a college because it has a nice ED matriculation rate. Pick a college you know you will gain a lot from.</p>
<p>[Colleges</a> Where Applying Early Decision Helps - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/articles/2009/09/30/colleges-where-applying-early-decision-helps.html]Colleges”>http://www.usnews.com/education/articles/2009/09/30/colleges-where-applying-early-decision-helps.html)
[Admission</a> Statistics: Acceptance Rates - Early vs. Regular | InLikeMe](<a href=“http://www.inlikeme.com/admission-statistics-acceptance-rates-early-vs-regular.html]Admission”>http://www.inlikeme.com/admission-statistics-acceptance-rates-early-vs-regular.html)</p>
<p>Applying ED may “help” somewhat at some schools, but not by the amounts given in the articles. The statistics don’t account for the ED and RD pools of applicants having very different average profiles. ED applicants have, on average, higher levels of legacy, athletic recruitment, matching stats, interest, etc.</p>
<p>^They may have higher levels of recruitment and legacies admits (and, of course, demonstrated interest, since that’s essentially what ED is a demonstration of), but they don’t have stronger pools stats-wise.</p>
<p>Wait so EA doesn’t help at Yale ??</p>
<p>“but they don’t have stronger pools stats-wise”</p>
<p>Low-stat students can submit an ED app to only one reach school, but can submit an RD app to many reach schools, thus lowering the average RD stats.</p>
<p>If these students have stats so low they are unlikely to be admitted, they could be disregarded in the admissions pool, since they wouldn’t impact the admissions results for good-not-great and high-stat applicants. The presence of high stats applicants RD, who are also submitting many RD apps (more, I imagine, than low-stat applicants), are likely to impact the admissions decisions of good-not-great applicants.</p>
<p>“If these students have stats so low they are unlikely to be admitted, they could be disregarded in the admissions pool”</p>
<p>But they are not disregarded in whatever stats are or would be reported for apps; they applied!</p>
<p>is it better to do EA at Yale for international students? my stats are ok but not amazing ?</p>