<p>I want to apply to Penn, which either has the Early Decision option or Regular Decision, but I want to apply to other schools as well. Because I cannot bind myself into any Early Decisions, I'll be applying for Early Action or Regular Admission. Does applying for Regular Admission hurt my chances of acceptance? Many people say know, but I'm not convinced ...</p>
<p>ANY ADVICE??</p>
<p>It doesn’t hurt your chances per se, but applying Early does have some advantages. For one, it shows the college that you’re absolutely committed to going (pending acceptance, of course) and that that college is your first choice.</p>
<p>The only time I’d advise NOT applying EA is if you need the fall semester to get an upswing in your grades before applying to a particular school. Bear in mind also, at some schools applying early action automatically makes you eligible for their merit-based scholarship program that doesn’t exist for RD applicants- Boston College is such an example. When this comes into play, the applicant pool is more competitive.</p>
<p>Statistics prove that ED applicants have a higher chance of getting that than RD applicants.</p>
<p>However, if Penn is really not your “dream” school, don’t apply ED.</p>
<p>From what I’ve seen, it’s all about yield. Colleges want high yield rates, and what better way to guarantee this than to apply ED? If accepted, you HAVE to go. This is a wonderful way for Penn to get students who normally may go for HYPS, but instead choose Penn as their top choice.</p>
<p>However, from what you said, it’s apparent that you don’t consider Penn your top choice. You want to apply to other schools and see how those decisions turn out which is totally fine! I urge you to pursue whichever path will leave you with the least regret in the future 
Best of luck!</p>