<p>Don’t forget that whenever one compares acceptance rates for ED and RD, one has to also pull out/estimate the number of varsity scholarship students. Virtually all Div 1 varsity scholarship students are in the ED pool – so comparing a 17% RD and 27% ED at Cornell could actually mean that the ED acceptance rate is LOWER … (I haven’t run the numbers).</p>
<p>My husband actually ran estimated numbers at a number of schools, estimating each school’s varsity athletes (NCAA limits the number of scholarships per year) and teams – there are some schools where the ED acceptance rate is not any greater than the RD and in some cases, where it is higher. Although this isn’t for all schools, it did appear that the most highly selective schools were the ones where applying ED may not necessarily get you the bang for the buck that you think you are getting (since the ED pool includes their Div 1 athletes and often the “cream” of the applicants) – whereas schools that have higher overall acceptance rates often have significantly high EDs (a student who is willing to say “you are my number 1” is taken).</p>