<p>Some colleges say they only give early admission to those that are guaranteed to be accepted in the regular decision process, but I have noticed that the acceptance rates are much higher for early decision than for regular. Is it really a higher percentage of qualified candidates applying for early decision or does it increase your chances?</p>
<p>Good question </p>
<p>Although it somewhat depends on the school, most here think that Early Decision will help your chances somewhat in elite schools. </p>
<p>These schools have many more qualified students applying that can be accepted. The thinking is that if you meet their standards, you have a greater chance of getting in ED. (Some schools are fairly honest about this – they want students who want to be there). Many schools will also defer a certain number of ED applicants to the regular pool, essentially giving you two bites at the apple.</p>
<p>If you are not a qualified applicant – it will make no little or no difference, you will not be accepted.</p>
<p>My advice (not as clear a consensus on this part):</p>
<p>This being said – regardless of the odds, if you are positive that a school is your first choice, that you would not want to go anywhere else if you were accepted at that school, AND you are reasonably certain that you will be able to afford it based on your family situation and financial aid formulae, apply ED. Otherwise – I would not recommend applying ED.</p>
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<p>I think the first part of your sentence pertains to EA schools, not ED.</p>
<p>@entomom You may be right. Honestly I don’t know the difference between EA and ED. They are both binding right? So what is the difference?</p>
<p>EA is not binding.</p>
<p>Early Action is non binding and you have until 5/1 to decide. Early Decision is binding and you must immediately withdrawal all other applications. There is also SCEA, Single Choice Early Action where this school is Early Action but stipulates you may not apply to any other schools Early Action. As with anything you must read the fine print as some allow for slight exceptions such as schools with rolling admission, etc.</p>
<p>So for SCEA you apply for early action at only one school, but even if you are accepted at this school you can apply regular decision at another school and enroll there?</p>
<p>Several schools have SCEA, Harvard, Princeton, Yale. I went to the Yale website to grab a direct quote so as not to butcher it. Please keep in mind each school has their own tweaks, but for the most part this is how it works:</p>
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[Frequently</a> Asked Questions - Single-Choice Early Action | Yale College Admissions](<a href=“http://admissions.yale.edu/faq/single-choice-early-action#t184n1810]Frequently”>http://admissions.yale.edu/faq/single-choice-early-action#t184n1810)</p>
<p>As others have said, Early Decision is binding, and Early Action is not. </p>
<p>When we say that Early Decision is binding, we mean that if you apply to a college or university under its Early Decision plan, you agree to go if you are admitted (and, if you’ve applied for need-based financial aid, if you are offered an aid package that meets your financial need). If you are admitted, you agree that you will withdraw any applications you have pending at other colleges and universities, and attend the college that admitted you early.</p>
<p>When we say that Early Action is not binding, we mean that even though you apply by an earlier date and get an answer by an earlier date, you have no obligation to attend that college, or to withdraw any applications you have submitted elsewhere if you’re admitted. You may apply EA to a college (or, except in the case of the ultra-selective SCEA colleges that blueiguana mentioned, to several) and still shop around for other colleges, looking for the best combination of academics, cost, social milieu, setting, size and whatever else you care about.</p>
<p>Here’s why Early Decision often helps. Colleges care about their yield–the percentage of admitted students who actually enroll. High yields mean that colleges don’t have to go to their wait lists, and usually translate into greater (may God forgive me for using this word) prestige. Low yields mean that a college has a hard time filling its freshman class, that they’ll need to go deeper into their wait list, and generally that they’ll be regarded as less selective. If you apply to a college Early Decision and you’re admitted, they know you’re coming. They don’t have to worry that you’re going to go to Stanford instead. That’s good for their yield. And so, sometimes a college has an incentive to admit a student whom they might otherwise have been on the fence about, just so they know they’ve got one–signed, sealed and delivered.</p>
<p>But if a college has Early Action, the college doesn’t get that kind of certainty. If you’re admitted early, you might go there, but you might still choose to go elsewhere. That means the college has somewhat less incentive to admit students under EA than under ED. They would have offered you a spot in their entering class–so they wouldn’t have that spot to offer if somebody really fabulous applied in the Regular Decision round–but they don’t know whether you’ll actually fill that spot. So, IMO at least, Early Action doesn’t give the same kind of admissions boost as Early Decision.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, Early Action is great if you do get in. You know you have somewhere to go next fall, but you can still shop around for something you’d like even more. Here’s the problem with Early Decision, though. There’s no shopping around. If you get into College A Early Decision, you’re going there. Maybe Colleges B and C would have admitted you, too, and offered you more generous financial aid, or a merit scholarship, or a place in their honors program. You’ll never know.</p>
<p>Excellent post Sikorsky! The only thing I’d add is, sometimes EA does seem to have a small statistical advantage. This is because EA candidates tend to be very well qualified. They were done with testing in Jr year, had essays polished early, a solid consistent academic record. They are not looking to sr year first semester grades to boost their GPA, they’re already there, ready to go. So what may look like a higher admit rate in EA is usually the result of well qualified candidates being accepted. Don’t rush your application to EA if you would benefit from first semester grades, another test date, or you’ve rushed your essays. You will do better in RD with the strongest app you can offer.</p>
<p>great advice blueiguana, I couldn’t spit those words out of my mouth but I guess you pulled them out from me. GREAT EXPLANTION 
awesome!</p>