<p>How much of a disadvantage is a typical (3.8+, 2250+, 2x750+) unhooked applicant that applies to Brown, Dartmouth, Duke, Northwestern, Chicago, MIT, Tufts, CMU, etc. if he or she applies in the regular decisions round instead of the early round. I know MIT and Brown don't provide any boost, but isn't the early round more competitive, in addition to having recruited athletes and legacy admits that boost the acceptance rate. Instead of applying early, it's better to make sure academic profile is as strong as possible, rather than having a supposed boost for applying early?</p>
<p>Example:</p>
<p>Student has 3.7 GPA, SAT of 21XX(<2150), should he or she apply early, or instead wait for the RD round, raise score to 2250+, raise GPA by bit, more time for essays, and perhaps some extracurricular achievements?</p>
<p>TLDR; If you're an unhooked applicant, then it will not make that much of a difference if you apply early or not.</p>
<p>The Early DECISION round does provide a boost for applicants other than legacies and recruits, so if it is the top choice of a 2100+ top 10% of class applicant, I say go for it. If that applicant can get a 2250 on the SAT and miss the ED round, I suggest he or she not apply early and take a chance in the RD round. REA and EA are actually more competitive because the most qualified candidates do apply and the boost in admissions is a result of the stronger candidate pool rather than a consequence of the actual early application policy. This is because REA and EA are nonbinding, so college officials don’t put more favor into those particular applicants…therefore the only logical conclusion is that those students are the best of the best.</p>
<p>@drac313: So if the applicant has a shot at increasing test scores, around 100-150 points, and bolstering the rest of his/her application, he or she should apply RD.</p>
<p>Is the ED boost for unhooked applicants a result of being easier to stand out, and showing commitment to schools (which I guess can also be conveyed through strong essays in the RD round)?</p>
<p>What would you recommend for the borderline candidate, to wait and strengthen the app or to just apply early?</p>
<p>scotchman</p>
<p>If you look at the data (which you can find for most schools by looking up their Common Data Set), you will see that the top top schools have significantly higher acceptance rates for ED than RD. The question of whether this means (i) that they have lower admissions standards or (ii) they have the same standards but admit a higher percentage of students who are statistically qualified is an open one.</p>
<p>So, it’s impossible to answer your question fully.</p>
<p>Why do you think your score will improve by 100 points or so.</p>
<p>What is your score breakdown – if the scores are all pretty close to 700, then ED is probably the way to go.</p>
<p>Otherwise, it’s a much harder question and I don’t think there is a clear-cut answer.</p>
<p>@scotchman
ED give you a boost because of the commitment. The best stat that a college tries to get up is yield rate (the amount of people who are accepted and actually attend in the fall). Harvard and Princeton are the highest on that list. So Cornell and Penn admit more students ED because they know there is a 99% chance these students will come, upping their yield. I would recommend ED for a borderline candidate if that is your first choice school. You just can’t bank on a 100 point score increase and lose that opportunity to apply early IMO.</p>
<p>Early decision with commitment to attend is only appropriate at a clear first choice school where comparing financial aid offers is not needed.</p>
<p>Early *action<a href=“or%20applying%20early%20to%20a%20rolling%20admissions%20school”>/i</a> just gives the chance to have an early safety if one gets accepted with enough financial aid to any such school. However, some early action schools want you to commit to not applying early action to many other schools (though there are some exceptions); these are called single choice or restricted early action schools.</p>
<p>Well, in my case, we’re talking about a 2120: 720M, 710CR, and a 690 in Writing. I’m interested in ED’ing to Brown, but I wanted to at least get them up to a 2250+. Also applying RD would help, as I might have some particular ECs achievements (research, science fairs, etc.)</p>