<p>I'm trying to decide whether to apply Early Decision II or Regular Decision.
I've come up with a sort of pros & cons list, but I don't have much information on the relative merits of either.</p>
<p>EARLY DECISION
-Deadline is the same as Regular Decision, so it's not like I'll have less time to work on my essays
-Find out much, much earlier than the regular decision suckers who applied to HYPSM/Harvey Mudd
-Higher chances of getting in? DON'T KNOW ABOUT THIS, if you have info on this please let me know!</p>
<p>REGULAR DECISION
-If I get into Harvey Mudd and, say, MIT (yeah right), then I have the freedom to choose MIT if I so desire
-I'm out.</p>
<p>i say, you do a lot of research on HMC before ED.
HMC is definitely a school that I would not just apply because you “heard” it was good.
There’s just so much risk because HMC is so different. If you’re applying to a big university, it’s less riskier. So, research!</p>
<p>PS. From the Mudd Hater thread, I did get the PM about the negative side of HMC. This probably is a good info for deciding what you should do. If you want, I’ll send you the message that I got with his permission.</p>
<p>I kinda disagree.
I believe ED would be a boost in chances since Harvey Mudd is indeed not the most popular school (sad to admit) which means far less students will go for the risk of applying ED.</p>
<p>It’s hard for me to believe that applying ED won’t improve your chances.</p>
<p>The admissions people are always looking for a way to improve yield numbers, so showing some level excitement about coming here is a big plus. ED is the easiest way to do this.</p>
<p>@geekmom: The ED numbers in the CDS refer to to Fall ED. Winter ED is new this year. I’d expect them to be a little more conservative in Fall ED than in Winter since the Fall ED decisions are made without any knowledge of the RD pool.</p>
<p>Of course, if you haven’t visited, ED probably isn’t a good idea. Have you visited both schools? For me, the campus visits to Mudd and MIT gave completely different vibes, so I wasn’t that worried about giving up a chance to go to MIT when I applied ED.</p>
<p>You should apply RD. ED is for those who are certain that Mudd is for them. They would pick Mudd over any other institution even if accepted to MIT/Caltech/etc. </p>
<p>If you’re not 100% into Mudd, DO NOT apply ED. Period.</p>
<p>I agree with rocket.
If Mudd was a big university offering variety of stuff, I would be more likely to say to just go for ED. Mudd is not like that. So, as I said, research HMC if you are considering ED</p>
<p>What rocketDA said, 100%. Also, the common wisdom says not to apply ED if you hope to shop financial aid offers. ED means you will matriculate if admitted, assuming the financial aid offer makes it possible.</p>
<p>(Aside, if you ever wanted to stir things up a little on the Parents forum, you might post a question like this: I was admitted to X college ED… Y college gave me a better offer… how do I back out from X? Hours and hours of popcorn-worthy entertainment, especially if one of the colleges is an Ivy and the other is U.Chicago. ;))</p>