<p>Excellent list, reidm. I would add only one more, because this can be an essential point, too:</p>
<p>Importance of Yield to school being considered ED.</p>
<p>Thus, Swarthmore, which competes dearly for the Ivy-type, Ivy-qualified students, & suffers from being an also-ran with the Ivies, is very yield-oriented. I think this may be true for Tufts & Georgetown & Amherst, too.</p>
<p>So, to the OP: this factor + reidm's list make ED <em>not</em> a one-size-fits-all kind of decision for any student.</p>