<p>My son just applied ED to his top choice - and this school was <em>absolutely</em> his top choice. I saw on the College Admissions forum that some students who applied ED are also applying EA at other schools. I suppose it's a safety net in case they are not accepted ED, but I wasn't aware that this was allowed. Is it?</p>
<p>The Early Decision agreement on the Common App says, "Under the Early Decision Plan, it is a violation of the spirit and the letter of the agreement for an applicant to be an Early Decision candidate at two or more institutions at the same time. Students who apply under the Early Decision Plan may initiate applications to other institutions, provided that none of the other applications is made under an Early Decision or an applicable Restrictive Early Action Plan. The obligation explicit in the Early Decision Plan, as described here and as defined by the National Association for College Admission Counseling, is a commitment on the part of the candidate to withdraw any other applications and to initiate no new applications if accepted under an institutions Early Decision Plan."</p>
<p>Does that mean one could apply ED at one school and EA at other schools since they are different methods? I'm confused.</p>
<p>Should we just contact his ED choice and ask this question, or would that give them the idea that he wasn't really serious about his ED choice?</p>
<p>As long as it is not another ED or SCEA/restricted EA one can apply RD and EA to as many other schools. But, the applications are to be withdrawn as soon as there is an ED offer.</p>
<p>It may be better to do this and be prepared, than to have to "start all over" on Dec 15th, after a rejection.</p>
<p>Well, gosh. I wish we'd realized that. Son did not ask his teachers to make copies of their letters of recommendation. I think there is a very good chance he will be accepted ED, but I guess you never know. I seem to recall that for some of the merit scholarships at colleges that you need to apply ED or EA to be considered, or at least have the best chance, so I think I see the advantage to not waiting for regular admissions. Hmmm...not sure what to tell him at this point.</p>
<p>If you apply to a school that has binding ED, ie they expect you to attend if accepted, you can apply to schools with rolling admissions, for example. If you are accepted to the rolling school and the ED school, you are expected to attend the ED school.</p>
<p>What complicates this scenario is that some schools title their early programs "Early Action" or "Early Review" or one of a number of other titles, when the program is NOT at all binding, and is really more like rolling admissions.</p>
<p>You have to read the fine print of the ED school, and any schools that are EA or rolling. Most ED schools will allow early non-binding applications to other schools, under a similar set of conditions as outlined above.</p>
<p>For example, my D applied ED to an Ivy, she also applied to her state uni rolling admissions (she was actually a late applicant to this school, and missed out on some merit money and housing, which is why you apply very early to these type schools), and to an in-state LAC that has "EA", but is not very selective, and gives you a response in 6 weeks - so even though it is called "EA" it is actually a rolling admission. She also had to apply prior to the standard deadline to her preferred safety school, in order to be in consideration for the top scholarships. All this was with the assumption that she would attend the ED school if she were admitted.</p>
<p>Single choice early admission is sort of a blend of EA and ED: If you apply to a school with SCEA, you agree not to apply ED anywhere. If you are admitted to your SCEA, you don't have an ED obligation. You have an EA agreement in that the college has admitted you, but you can continue to submit RDs, weigh options, compare financial packages, and select from your admittances according to the spring acceptance response schedule. In theory this puts a little more of the control in the hands of the student, although you must use up your early on one school rather than applying to multiple EAs that don't have the SC qualifier.</p>
<p>SCEA = Single Choice, Early Action. I think that only Yale has this option now, but I'm not sure.</p>
<p>Restricted Early Action = some schools, i.e. Boston College, will allow a student to apply EA to BC and EA to other schools, but will not permit an ED application anywhere.</p>
<p>SCEA is single choice early action. There is no obligation to attend like there is with ED, but one can only have one application in, to that school. Restrictive EA is the same. An EA school cannot bind you to go there if accepted, but they can require that they be the only institution that you are applying to EA while you wait for the results.</p>
<p>By the by, even with SCEA you can still apply to a rolling admission school, correct?? And you can submit early applications as required for scholarship contests as long as the school with the scholarship does not require an ED commitment.</p>
<p>Hopefully, SCEA will die a natural death, I bet Yale will see a big uptick in apps, then a drop in the yield after the Harvard Princeton results come out.</p>
<p>Thanks, everyone. I guess, as sly-vt says, we should probably just check with his admissions officer at his ED choice and go from there. I think we'll wait until next week to do that since they are probably buried in paperwork right now with the ED deadline being just yesterday.</p>
<p>nngmm said, "I am sure the teachers have the letters on their computers, and will have no problem sending another copy to another school."</p>
<p>Son gave his teachers paper copies to be sent by mail. I suppose most teachers would still make a copy for their own records. We'll not panic for now and wait to see what the school says next week.</p>
<p>If these teachers have ever written recommendation letters before, they probably have copies. They know that, no matter how stellar the student, ED is never a sure bet.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>ED colleges generally allow you to apply EA to other colleges (they have no reason not to allow it because if accepted ED you agree to attend and cancel all others).</p></li>
<li><p>Those that have EA break down to three groups: (a) Yale and Stanford have single choice early action meaning if you apply EA to one of those you cannot apply EA or ED to another college; (b) several, including Georgetown, BC and UChicago, have an EA only option -- if you apply EA to one of those you can apply EA to any other college but not ED; (c) the rest which have EA allow you to apply ED or EA elsewhere.</p></li>
<li><p>All ED and EA colleges allow you to apply regular admission to others, including to other colleges with rolling admissions that give out decisions as applications are received, and you can submit that regular admission application as early as you want, e.g., before you get ED or EA decision or even before you apply EA or ED.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Actually, you can apply to the University of Chicago EA and another school ED..it's done quite often. If you are admitted to your ED school you either withdraw your application from your EA school (pre-decision) or decline admission immediately (post-decision).</p>
<p>*Exceptions to Stanford's Restrictive/Single-Choice Early Action Program *
Stanford's Early Action program differs from many Early Action programs, as it does not allow a candidate to apply to other schools under any type of Early Action, Early Decision, or Early Notification program, with the following exceptions:</p>
<p>Students applying to Stanford's Early Action program may apply to:</p>
<p>= Any institution, public or private, under a non-binding Rolling Admission option;</p>
<p>= Public institutions under a non-binding Early Action program;</p>
<p>= Foreign colleges/universities on any application schedule;</p>
<p>= Institutions whose early application deadlines are a requirement for consideration for special academic programs or scholarships only if the notification of admission occurs after January 1; and to</p>
<p>= Institutions under an Interim Decision program only if the notification of admission occurs after January 1.</p>