<p>ED is more then that. Your high school counselor signs the ED form saying he/she will not let you apply to other schools. Now if your counselor breaks that and you end up going else where, a lot of schools will hold that against the school and sometimes not admit anyone from that school anymore. Also, since they are small LACs, the admissions officers are probably pretty familiar with eachother and let whatever school you go to know that you broke the ED agreement which could have a lot of consequences.</p>