<p>I am currently deciding whether to apply early or regular to Northwestern. During the information session at the school, they explained that Northwestern applicants are judged on the same standards regardless of early or regular decision. The was said about MMSS admission, which i am interested in. Does this mean i will have no advantages or higher consideration to the school and MMSS with early decision? Would it be possible for a student to be admitted early that would have been rejected regular decision? Is there any point in applying early besides hearing back sooner?</p>
<p>ED acceptance rates are slightly higher than regular decision - I believe ED was 33% this year, while RD was 23%. This could have multiple reasons, of course…the students applying ED may be more motivated, anyway, thus giving them a better chance of admission in either pool. But at the same time it also shows a great amount of interest, which the school loves. It also gives you a smaller pool to be selected from, so you can stand out more. There is definitely an advantage in applying ED, but if you get in ED I think you would probably get in RD, but I only say that off of my own guess, not off of specific facts I have stored away.</p>
<p>But by showing interest and by appearing in a smaller pool, you may get that edge in ED. I applied ED and was very happy with my decision - if you love NU and are thinking about it at this point, I would say go ahead and go for it. You have plenty of time to get ready to prepare a full and polished application.</p>
<p>Here’s one difference: while I don’t believe that the standards are even an ounce lower for ED than for RD applicants, keep in mind that there is no way that a school can let in all qualified RD applicants. On the other hand, if you are qualified and apply ED, they are getting a benefit from admitting you ED, which is that they know that they get a 1 for 1 yield on ED admits. So from that perspective, if you are clearly qualified, there is an advantage to applying ED besides just hearing back earlier.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t underestimate how lovely it is to know, for a fact, where you’re going to college in December. Most of my friends spent all winter agonizing about their college plans and waiting for acceptances and I knew exactly where I was going. It made senior year significantly more enjoyable.</p>
<p>Then again, I have a friend who applied ED to NU, got rejected, and fell apart for a while…so you might want to take that into consideration too! She’s going to Columbia next year, though, so I think she’ll live :P</p>
<p>If Northwestern is your 1st choice, the bottom line is that applying ED only help :)</p>
<p>Wait–she got rejected at Northwestern but accepted to Columbia? As in the ivy league in New York?</p>
<p>Not that NU is a bad school, it’s outstanding, but CU is better, any idea how that happened?</p>
<p>College admissions are ridiculous. My friend was rejected from NU but got in Harvard. Go figure.</p>
<p>Every school has hooks (category admissions) and they’re all different. There’s no predicting if a given student has what any given school wants.</p>
<p>Well, I applied ED to NU as well, and I got in. It’s weird because, honestly, she was more qualified for NU than me anyway…so go figure. She had higher scores and a higher GPA, more leadership, etc. Perhaps they didn’t want two from my school, though. It’s definitely a crap-shoot though. Essays must be really important if I got in and she didn’t. </p>
<p>We live in North Dakota, though, So I’m sure geographic diversity helped her get into Columbia 
She got into Penn and Duke as well! Odd, I know.</p>
<p>There are a few elite schools where ED provides a major advantage, NU being one of them. Johns Hopkins is another. Given the insanity of the general process, if one can identify a top choice school then ED, at least until the landscape changes again, is one way to secure an advantage.</p>
<p>Honestly just go look at the ED 2014 thread and compare it to the RD 2014 thread and I think you’ll find your answer which is, no matter what the official position of the school is, it is much easier to get in ED.</p>
<p>^ as it seems to be with nearly every university.</p>