I personally feel that it is another set of deadlines that would stress me out and prevent me from putting my absolute best into each application. Does early action significantly better my chances of admittance? Should I just focus on regular decision? Thanks
Colleges like students who are organized enough to apply EA. They also take it as a sign of interest. I’d advise you to do it if you can.
You may say the same thing for RD in a couple month. You do need to have a good plan in college application. Many schools only consider merit scholarships for early applicants. If you are not going to get any new score or improvement in GPA, you should pick at least one or two schools to apply early so you will not be stress out before RD deadline.
Having an acceptance in hand before March is a HUGE stress reliever. Trust me, if there is a school you are considering EA, make every effort to get the app in. It is much more stressful to wait until Jan 1 or around then, and submit everything, then sit around until mid March twiddling your thumbs, not knowing if you will get in anywhere. Being accepted early, or denied, then gives you plenty of time to weigh your other options. And of course, it’s a relief to know that you have at least one decent option in the bag.
If your grades are good, then apply EA if at all possible.
Early action in general does not give a major boost to your chances of acceptance. EA is often seen as a sign of interest by colleges which can be a small plus. But IMO the huge benefit is hearing a decision early (echoing what @Lindagaf noted) is having one or two acceptances in hand by December – it really takes a lot of stress out of the process.
That said, I’d apply EA only if you feel your application is in as good a shape as possible by the EA deadline date. If you think your application will be significantly improved (ex. much better essays, re-taking standardized tests after the EA deadline, desire to show strong first semester senior year grades etc.) then I’d recommend you wait until RD.
Agreed. I’ll repost what I wrote a couple of years ago when I was a HS senior:
Having an early acceptance or two is a big stress reliever. Set realistic deadlines for you but try to get some early. For my kids rather than saying all 8 applications were due on January 1st. We said try to do one a week through out the fall. We started with the ones that had non-binding EA dates. It was really good knowing that there were acceptances in hand before the winter holidays.