<p>Hi, I have a question. I can understand that early action can be helpful to some as they want to get it over with and just curious as to what school accepted them.</p>
<p>However, whats the point of ED if it doesn't even help you? What I mean by this is that everyone I ask, (college rep/counselors) says that ed doesn't help your chances of getting in at all. It actually is more competitive (no idea how). Now my question is, why would someone do that? If your BOUND to it once accepted, yet if you don't do ed you can get accepted and still choose not to go. Than what is the point of ed?</p>
<p>most colleges say that it wont help, but a lot of applicants still think it will. They think that because acceptance rates are generally a little higher for ED applicants. Colleges say that it's higher simply because the "go-getter" type of applicant that generally applies ED is generally going to be a "go-getter" at other things. The ED applicants generally simply have better applications than the guy that just decides at the last minute that he wants to apply to harvard, just for kicks. But that's just what the colleges say, kinda. It may help because it shows interest in the school. </p>
<p>Also schools are worried about their applicant yield for the rankings, this is probably the real reason.</p>
<p>It's not useless at all. It allows colleges to start hand-picking their freshman class, and in most cases, ED acceptance rates are higher than RD. In some cases, it is significant. Probably the best example:</p>
<p>ED can also save the applicant a little money. Apply to one school ED and hold all RD apps. If you get in, no need to invest a few hundred dollars in the RD apps. </p>
<p>I have a big college book (Princetonreview's best 368 colleges 2009) that has a lot of those types of numbers, and that's where I pulled the JHU stats from.</p>
<p>If you want to apply ED, apply to your first choice. That's all I can say. Don't use it as some sort of strategic tool.</p>
<p>I agree with Showbizkid: ED should ONLY be used if you are certain of your first choice school. If you love it, and can completely see yourself there, and would definitely not look back once you're accepted, THEN apply ED. It shouldn't be used as a strategic tool, though it is used that way on occasion.</p>
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astly, would it be a better to use ed for a match or reach? So for a college that i have 75% to get into or 25%?
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<p>As others have said, this is not the way to look at it. It should be used for your FIRST CHOICE, whether than happens to be a reach or match, or even a safty based on your stats. </p>
<p>One of the advantages is how much nicer it makes your senior year, if you get in. I got into my ED school, so instead of being stressed about apps all winter break, and than worried about where I would get in for the secodn semester, I was all set. If you know where you want to go, it's nice to know you actually are going there earlier in the year.</p>
<p>(The downside of this is it can be harder on you if you DON'T get in to your ED schoo, because you don't have a bunch of other acceptances in hand/coming your way to make you feel better).</p>
<p>I am firmly convinced our D got into Vandy during ED and she would not have gotten in during RD. They knew by accepting her she was coming no matter what. It allows them to lock in a certain number of students who truly want to be there and aren't using the school as a 3rd or 4th choice or leverage for FA.</p>
<p>It depends entirely on the school. At the most highly sought-after schools with the largest applicant pools, ED usually doesn't help the applicant gain much of an edge in admissions. HYPSM-level schools can safely assume everyone who applies has "interest," and they can be just as choosy in the ED or EA pool as in the RD pool. But I've heard admissions officers from a number of very schools say that applying ED does give you an edge at their school. They still won't accept you unless they're satisfied that you're qualified. But among other considerations, they do want to admit people who really want to be there, and ED is the clearest signal you send on that score (As a corollary, however, it's just really dumb to apply ED unless the school really is your first choice, because if you're accepted ED you're stuck). ED also helps them manage their yield, which not only makes the rest of the admissions process more manageable and predictable, but also helps with their "selectivity" numbers, which in turn helps with their US News ranking; and though they won't admit it publicly, their US News ranking matters a lot to them because it affects everything---the size and qualifications of future applicant pools, future yield rates, alumni giving, current student satisfaction, ability to recruit and retain top faculty, etc., etc. (And by "selectivity" I mean not just acceptance rates but all the factors that go into US News' selectivity score, especially SAT/ACT medians; they all have target SAT/ACT 25th and 75th percentiles and if they can assemble a reliable cohort of high-scoring ED admits they know are coming, they can set SAT/ACT benchmarks for the rest of the admissinos process). </p>
<p>So I say, if the school is your first choice, your stats are in the upper half of their admitted students profile, and you're willing to take a chance on the FA package they offer, by all means apply ED. It certainly won't hurt your chances, and at most schools it can help---sometimes a little, sometimes a lot, depending on the school. But don't apply ED to a school that's not your first choice, because that's just self-defeating.</p>
<p>The other thing an applicant gets in ED is the benefit of having their application reviewed in a pool of hundreds rather than thousands. The admissions reps have more time to look at your application, consider letters, essays, put everything about you into a little more thoughtful context. I think at some very selective schools an ED applicant with grades/scores/ECs that are right in there with the bulk of accepted students has some advantage over a similar RD applicant, because at many of these selective schools a <em>lot</em> of qualified students don't get accepted because there just isn't room for everyone who wants to attend. In ED they may be looking at your app thinking "what makes this student right for our school?" In RD they may be looking for any little thing that might make you <em>not</em> right just because they have to cull the stack of applications pretty radically.</p>
<p>The "quality" of the accepted students may well be similar-to-identical in ED and RD, but the qualified student just has better odds in ED.</p>
<p>Yes, nice point rent. Our D was dead 50th percentile of her freshman class at Vandy and may very well have been glossed over in the monstrous RD pool. Never underestimate the relationship with the school's adcom either. They are your inside advocate if you can ingratiate yourself to them.</p>