<p>Might increase your chances....or it might not. It will definitely increase your chances if you are developmental admit, legacy, recruited athlete, desired URM, published a novel, hold a major patent, competed in the Olympics, and don't require financial aid. Beyond that, is wholly and totally unknown whether it would increase your chances at all, no less immensely. (There are some schools, in fact - Yale and Pomona being among them - that report that their standards for admission are slightly HIGHER for early applicants.)</p>
<p>But you don't have a clear first choice, so I think it should be a non-issue.</p>