Hi,
Is there any advantage (in terms of admission rate) to applying EA, then getting deferred, then switching to ED2? Over just applying ED.
I’m afraid that if I apply ED, I’ll be straight-up rejected and lose any second chance (I see a second chance in the ED2 if I am deferred from EA).
thanks!
For ED2, you have to fight with all the HYPS SCEA deferred and rejected candidates. From a purely tactical point of view, ED1 is your best bet IFF you are firmly committed to UChicago as your school and your family can afford to pay for the UChicago education.
“I’m afraid that if I apply ED, I’ll be straight-up rejected and lose any second chance (I see a second chance in the ED2 if I am deferred from EA).”
If you are at risk of outright rejection from ED1, then you are at risk of outright rejection from EA as well. Your particular admission plan won’t impact that one way or the other.
You are best off figuring out which early admission plan fits your needs best, and facotrs such as degree of preference for UChicago and need for merit and fin. aid. should be your primary considerations. ED1 most likely has a higher admit rate but defers to RD. EA will also defer to RD but you can switch to ED2. Regardless of whether one ends up in the ED2 pool or the RD pool, both have the same set of outcomes: accept, waitlist, or reject.
If you are playing a game of strict odds, then knowing that the EA pool probably has an accept rate of around 5% while the deferred RD pool has an accept rate at about 1/10 of that, is probably helpful info. to know.
Don’t think of it as a “second chance” it really isn’t. ED 1 offers the best chance of acceptance, better than EA to ED 2.