Hello!
Quick question-does anyone know the specific differences between ED I versus ED II besides the different deadlines? Much appreciated!
The timing is the big difference.
Typically acceptance rates are higher in the ED1 round but that is because that first ED round includes students with hooks (ex. recruited athletes, children of large donors etc.).
For some schools, hooked applicants are specifically only considered in ED1.
A few of the schools my daughter was interested in noted no significant difference between ED1 and ED2 admit rates, and encouraged students who thought they would have a better application later (examples: waiting for S1 senior year grades, expecting awards, retaking standardized test, etc that they wouldn’t have for ED1) to wait and use ED2.
It can vary from school to school. Sometimes, ED1 can scoop up kids that are on a wish list (the proverbial oboe player, an athlete, undersubscribed major etc) that is no longer as wanted during ED2. You get 3 kids from Montana that you give that geographical tip in ED, but now you don’t really care about Montana in ED2.
IMO, psychologically, when you have to fill an empty room, you are a lot more generous while there are more open seats and while you are a bit anxious that you are going to get that room filled. As the room fills, you start getting pickier in order to have room for some special guests, unusual picks . Highly desired candidates that you want to include.
@cptofthehouse are there really schools that completely fill up categories like geographic tips in ED1 already? So never mind ED2, it’s a total no-hoper for RD?
It’s not like there are quotas for geographics per se like there are for international students. But, if you are a borderline applicant from say Alaska, I think You have a better chance being the first one that the AO has to evaluate rather than coming after 3 Alaskans already accepted.
I do not know of specific quotas , and I’ve yet to meet an AO who has not appeared to be truly committed to putting together the best class at their college. I have not seen any evidence in Quotas other than some schools that may have some in place to get representation in some scantily reached area in a state, and those do not put lids on how many they accept from such areas.
If you apply ED and are deferred, I wouldn’t recommend applying ED2 unless you equally LOVE that school, and more important can afford it (run the FA calculators if appliciable). IMO, ED shouldn’t be used to improve your chances of getting into ANY “selective” university, only your dream school (again, if it’s affordable, b/c ED is a binding commitment.)
Keep in mind that at the extremely selective schools offering ED2 (Vanderbilt, UChicago etc,) the ED2 round will see a lot of students who applied ED or EA elsewhere (especially HYPSM) and were deferred/rejected and want to go to a school that’s a bit lower on their list. Applying ED will not help you if you don’t meet what the school’s looking for (strong academics, extracurricular involvement etc.)
I do want to note that at Vanderbilt, at least during 2010, Admissions said that they do not utilize ED to recruit athletes as they are a Division I school ( the Ivies are in a different Division I classification----maybe that’s why?) IIRC Vanderbilt also states in their undergraduate catalog that they defer few applicants, which could be beneficial when it comes to getting a final decision of Yes/No vs. playing the waiting game.
Vanderbilt ED Info: https://admissions.vanderbilt.edu/vandybloggers/2010/10/early-decision-on-the-mind/
Where are you considering applying ED and ED2?
Hope that helps!
Unless a college accepts a significant majority of their incoming class from ED, I honestly can’t see this being a big issue. I am not aware of many colleges that take more than 50% of the class from both EDs, and certainly many of the bigger colleges take noticeably less than that. In short: I think there is plenty of room to be equally or almost equally considered for just about anything in ED2, other than the things (generally, hooks) that a particular college may clearly specify is only considered in ED1.
I hadn’t thought of it that way-thank you for your insight!
Thank you for the info! I’m applying to ED at William and Mary and think that I am either slightly below a match or right at that level but I’m not really sure because I know people with varying statistics who have gotten into W&M so it’s hard for me to judge where I stand.
I actually have a question about that: if I were to apply ED/EA, would the AO not take my senior (first term) grades into account? For example, if applied ED would they only see my gpa from junior year and below versus if I applied regular, they would see my gpa cumulative of both my junior and senior first term? I’ve asked about this before but have not really gotten a clear answer-hopefully I phrased this in a way that makes sense!
Never knew discussing “hooked” students AKA gaming the system was acceptable.
Learning something new everyday
If you apply ED1, then the decision will be made without senior grades on your transcript (though they will know what classes you are enrolled for in senior year and this will usually be considered). If you apply ED2, then depending on your school calendar, you may have first semester senior grades to submit (my D’s high school only finalized S1 grades after most ED2/RD deadlines so this is not the case for everyone). So if you think you may need a bump from senior grades, that would be one reason to prefer ED2.
I wish I knew that before! That’s definitely something for me to think about-thank you for clarifying 
@SJ2727 @zacademics ED schools with December-release dates (which is before most schools 1st semester grades) will usually ask for 1st quarter (or unofficial progress reports if your school grades on a semester schedule,) from your Guidance Counselor. Even after you’re admitted, Admissions will continue to monitor your grades from 1st and 2nd semester: so make sure to keep your grades up!
If you’re stats and extracurriculars are in-range for W & M, apply and hope for the best, but make sure you’re still applying to other schools/have your RD applications ready. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to apply rolling admission or early action to a safety school, just-in-case. 
Hope that helps!
This was not in fact asked for my daughter for her ED school. She was asked to submit official 1st semester grades when they were available, after her ED admit, and part of her admit letter was that she was expected to maintain the same level of grades on which she was admitted; most schools will say something along these lines as far as I know.
@SJ2727 You won’t know if your counselor was requested to submit them or not unless they tell you, as they did not show up in my applicant portal as they were requested by my AO via email to my counselor. Some schools will state on their websites explicitly that they require them, though not every school.
@zacademics - our experience is exactly like what @PikachuRocks15 said in their post. For ED/EA (and looks like it varies by school - since @SJ2727 had a different experience), our guidance counselor will submit 1st quarter grades as part of the ED/EA application. These grades are complete by the Nov 1st deadline.
We were told that if you are relying on your senior year 1st semester grades to continue to show growth then ED might not be the best option. If your high school grades have been consistent and your 1st quarter report is expected to follow that same line as previous years it would makes sense to ED/EA - if you have a top school.
Also, if you school was pass/fail or everyone gets an A for 2nd semester jr year due to Covid - and you don’t have the grades from other semesters to be a competitive applicant - you may want to pass on ED/EA. My kid’s high school will not have semester grades until mid-January - so only 1st quarter goes to their ED school - and if accepted ED - their guidance counselor will continue to submit their grades for their entire senior year to support their acceptance.
My daughter was in contact with her counselor through the process, so she knows, and it wasn’t. Thanks. ED processes are not absolutely homogeneous across schools. Attending information sessions (virtual or otherwise) and discussing applications with your counselor are therefore important, including the for the topic of the thread.