<p>Brown is definitely one of my top choices, and I’m considering applying earlier there. I’m wondering whether the acceptance rate is higher ED, and by how much if you guys know. </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>It’s a substantially higher acceptance rate, but the qualifications of those accepted are not lower. That is, people who apply early are the types of people who get accepted anyway. </p>
<p>Applying ED is a much safer bet (something high like 30% acceptance vs. 9%), but only if you REALLY want to go to Brown and would have no regrets after getting in, because you will be required to matriculate.</p>
<p>ED Rate is 19.9%. RD rate is 7.6%. It seems like a good idea to apply early because Brown considers the level of an applicants interest as a very important factor in admissions whereas most other schools don’t. Best of luck!</p>
<p>There are a lot of posts on this topic already, written by people who more knowledgeable about ED admissions rates than I. However, I still attribute much of higher ED rates at Brown (and, while we’re at it, a number of other schools) to three things:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Recruited athletes
Recruited athletes are usually contacted in the fall of their senior years, if not earlier, with the promise of a likely letter (i.e. if you apply, you will almost certainly get in). Often they “apply” ED and are automatically accepted, given the athletic department’s agreement. Since many recruited athletes are ED, their numbers bolster the ED acceptance rate.</p></li>
<li><p>Legacies
Although Brown doesn’t promise to raise the admit rate for legacy applicants who apply early (</p></li>
</ol>
<p>^ Well explained.</p>
<p>thefunnything is 100% right. The ED acceptance rate is deceiving (imo). Though more people are accepted, the pool is much smaller with extremely qualified people (not saying that RD is not). The athletes and legacies make up a HUGE proportion of this statistic. If you apply ED, I feel like that if you’re not accepted in December, you will most likely be deferred and get a 2nd shot during RD (since the acceptance rate for deferred applicants is nearly equal to the actual RD acceptance rate as a whole).</p>
<p>The other thing that is important to keep in mind when applying ED or EA is that your application can improve dramatically, both because you can work on your essays more and because you have a chance to put more accomplishments on your CV and get better test scores.</p>
<p>I applied EA to Yale, and the essay I wrote was the first draft of my Brown supplement essay, but by the time I was done revising the essay for Brown, the only similarity was the topic, and the message on a very basic level, and the same was true for my Common App personal essay. Also, I improved one of my SAT II scores by 50 points. Whether or not these differences explain why I got in to Brown and not Yale is impossible to tell, and I may have gotten into Brown ED. and be reject all the same from Yale with my new and improve essays and scores. </p>
<p>However, I feel that unless you fall into one of thefunnything’s catagories (especially 1 and 2), you are better served applying RD than ED, and showing your love for Brown on the supplement and in the interview (one of the few things alumni interviews are really useful for).</p>
<p>^ I think you meant to say RD…cause how can applying ED or EA help raise your test scores and give you the chance to put up more accomplishments? It would actually kind of be the other way around. Although you did get one fact straight: by applying ED or EA, you’ll have the chance to focus solely on your application to Brown. You’d have about 3 months (probably more if you start early) to completely PERFECT your Brown application. Whereas if you apply RD, you’d have to struggle with applications from other schools at the same time.</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>Ya I don’t agree that you should only apply to Brown ED is you’re a legacy or athlete (since the third group thefunnything said isn’t really a group…). Apply to Brown ED if it is your number 1 choice school and you’re willing to accept Brown’s financial aid package with no negotiations.</p>
<p>What I said was apply RD helps improve essays and raise scores.</p>
<p>This sentence:
</p>
<p>Which I think is what you are refering to, could be clarified to say: “Whether or not these differences explain why I got in to Brown and not Yale is impossible to tell, and I may have gotten into Brown ED with the worse essays and scores and been reject all the same from Yale with my new and improve essays and scores.”</p>
<p>But otherwise I meant what I said. The extra time in November and December more than makes up for the time lost to other school’s supplements.</p>
<p>Edit:</p>
<p>I agree with swin2daend, but if you are trying to game the admissions statistics, which is what I think the OP was asking about, then I believe RD makes more sense.</p>
<p>^ I understand what you’re talking about with better essays and such. However, if an applicant does everything right, ED should be just as good as RD quality-wise. When I was applying, I started writing my essays very early (early than necessary). When all the supplements were out, I obviously did my Brown ones first 9since I was ED), but I did my other essays when I was done with my Brown essays mid-September. By the end of October, I pretty much finished all my essays, which means I would’ve made my changes and such to my Brown essays (which did happen). That way, I was covered if I was rejected (which was more probable since I was neither legacy nor a recruit). But Verstuff is not completely wrong at all with quality controlling. Everything gets easier with practice (hence, earlier essays are usually not as good). My way worked out for me so I didn’t have that problem.</p>
<p>It sounds as though swim2daend and I agree on the ultimate point, which is that if you are going to apply ED, it is important to write some, if not all of your other essays before submitting the application, as it will cause you to further improve your Brown essays. </p>
<p>My intial advice was merely meant to make sure that people thought before sending in their least good essays (they will be almost regardless of how much you work on them, if you haven’t written some others as well) to the school you most want to go to. However, I now see that it is not the actual deadlines, but rather the sequencing, that is important, so for those who are like swim2daend, it makes sense to apply ED.</p>