<p>There’s no evidence besides anecdotal that ED helps you get into a school. Officially, most schools will tell you that it does <em>not</em>, and that the reason the acceptance rates are higher is because the ED crowd is a self-selecting crowd with generally higher stats who are more prepared (since they are applying earlier than everyone else). A few people floating around here swear that it does because their mom’s friend’s sister’s daughter got in ED, or because they claim to know someone in admissions.</p>
<p>Regardless of this you should only apply to a school ED if you are 100% sure that you want to go there and if you will not need to compare financial aid packages. Honestly, it’s not really difficult to back out of an ED contract, and since they aren’t legally binding, you could actually get out of it for other reasons besides financial. It’s considered bad form and you may be shut out of other universities you plan to apply to – the school may inform others that you have backed out of your ED contract and they can rescind your acceptance based upon that information.</p>
<p>If you are worried about financial aid you should probably apply regular decision so that you can compare and negotiate.</p>
<p>well i think it’ll be actually easier to bargain with the college when you have already been selected.i’m talking about the need blind ones actually.</p>
<p>chsowlflax17: When you state enough financial aide, what exactly do you mean because I live with my brother and grandma and our income is around 20K.</p>
<p>enough financial aid is finicky. It depends on the person. I know some places guaruntee that people whose families make under 40,000 under normal circume stances (i.e. don’t have hundreds of thousands of dollars in stocks or home equity) will get to go for only the amount (or less) that the school expects them to make on campus (about 10 hours/week, $10/hour… comes out to under 3,000/year). However, to be certain you’d have to address each school individually, talk to each school’s finaid department. If you need finaid, do NOT apply ED without first talking to the aid department, making sure you could get what you NEED (if they quote something higher than your need, or don’t promise to guaruntee you what you need/release you from your ED decision if they don’t give you enough, than you should wait for RD). If your #1 is EA, then apply and don’t worry about, because you can go somewhere else.</p>
<p>A lot of people assume that ED increases an applicant’s chances. This may be true in general, but may not necessarily true when it comes to some top tier schools. A lot of applicants who apply ED or EA to top tier schools are extremely competitive, with stellar scores and ECs. The quality of the early applicant pool to many top schools is often quite high, so keep that in mind.</p>
<p>I think it is too broad to state that, in general, ED improves your chances for admissions. However, there is evidence that certain individual colleges accept a much higher percentage of their students via ED. You would need to look at the individual colleges Common Data Set to see which schools this applys to.</p>
<p>Your desire and dedication to go to that one school shows and is what the admissions office takes into consideration when they fill a class with not only intelligent but enthusiastic kids, kids who love where they are and will be proud of the school they graduate from. This important factor WILL benefit you from the regular pool. So yes I think that it is paramount that you take advantage of ED if you know the school of your dream.</p>