<p>Whats the point of doing an early decision rather then a regular decision? I know that you apply early deciosion to your first choice school, but does it give you more chances or something? or is it just nice to know if you get in sooner?</p>
<p>Don’t take my word on this, but I think the benefit of early decision is that the school you apply to will have an empty “pocket” for undergrads. Therefore, they will be more lenient in their acceptances/rejections, and won’t have to make any close cuts due to lack of space.</p>
<p>But that’s just what I believe. I actually have no evidence to back it up :D</p>
<p>It depends on the school. At some schools it is easier to get in during the early decision round.</p>
<p>Early decision is a binding agreement. You apply early, and your app will be among the first to be read, when they have just opened up spots for the new class; it is supposedly easier to get in as opposed to their having nearly filled up the class and are trying to cut back on acceptances. By applying ED, you are telling them that if you get in, you will attend, and you are bound to do so. You may get deferred, which means that they are delaying review of your application into the regular round, and I believe you have the option to back out then. You may also get accepted or rejected. The advantage of ED is that you can demonstrate your interest and thus commitment to the school, and it is likely easier to get into. The disadvantage is that you must attend if accepted. I recommend it if you have a dream reach school that you really want to attend.</p>
<p>Some schools have ED II, a second round of ED. There is also Early Action, which lets you apply early, but there is no commitment and no admissions boost, though applying early is always nice.</p>
<p>Because of the binding agreement, you can only apply to one school ED, but you can apply EA to multiple schools.</p>
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<p>You need to do your homework to find out if a school actually has a higher acceptance rate during ED, and if they do, WHY they have a higher acceptance rate. For instance, U Penn only considers legacy status if a student applies ED. </p>
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<p>Not quite. If you applied for financial aid, and you do not receive enough to make the school affordable for your family, then you can turn down the ED offer. You are then free to apply to other schools RD, or to consider any acceptances from any EA or rolling admissions schools.</p>
<p>You can’t reconsider your ED school later, during RD acceptances. That’s fine if there is another RD school that you end up liking better, or which is affordable. However, if you find out after your RD acceptances that your ED school actually was the most affordable, you can’t go back to the ED school and say you want to accept.</p>
<p>Sometimes you can get in easier in ED.</p>
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<p>Oops, yes. I think SlitheyTove is right about that.</p>
<p>For many but not all colleges it is easier to get accepted ED than RD. There can also be a benefit to having an answer early, to reduce stress. If you apply ED and are not accepted, there is still time to broaden the number and selectivity levels of the schools you do apply to, although EA has that same benefit without a binding decision.</p>
<p>^ Although EA rarely has the admissions benefit seen with ED.</p>