My sense from looking at some of the data is that there is little to no material increase in acceptance rates from EDII versus RD. seems like it may be more of a way for schools to manage yield than for applicants to get a significant bump in admission chances. Is it possible that the schools are looking only for certain types of students during RD (like first gen/other URMs) and if you are unhooked, full pay, etc., you are better off applying EDII versus RD just because the AO’s focus during RD is for a different type of student. What am I missing here?
At most schools EDII will have a similar bump to EDI. It has the same advantage to the college of locking in a desirable applicant. The acceptance rates for EDIi may be lower as hooked applicants (ex. recruited athlete, legacy etc.) typically apply in the EDI round
If the college uses level of applicant’s interest in admissions, ED (either 1 or 2) is the strongest possible expression of interest that an applicant can show to the college. This can be particularly important if the applicant appears “overqualified” for the college.
@happy1 and @ucbalumnus – Thank you both. Two good points. Especially the “overqualified” point. Certainly does inoculate against the “he’s too qualified, he’s not really interested” issue.