<p>@orbdas</p>
<p>There is only one advantage to applying SCEA: if you get in you don’t have to do anymore college apps.</p>
<p>The higher percentage that get in during SCEA vs RD has NOTHING to do with a person’s odds of getting in. It only is a reflection of the number of highly qualified applicants in the SCEA pool.</p>
<p>Stanford is different from many other schools in that they defer relatively few people in the SCEA round (I think last year was about 9% vs. other schools that deferred 50-60% if not more). They state that they prefer to make as many final decisions as they can in the SCEA round.</p>
<p>So the implication is that if you have anything in your application that could make your case stronger after the SCEA decisions come out (fall grades, harder courses, EC activities, contests, whatever), then it may make more sense to do RD.</p>