Or it was equal in appeal and kids have already heard from several EAs. One of the things my S said about why he decided not to apply to several other schools on his list (which had later deadlines or no EA II) is that it’s already going to be really, really hard to decide between the four that gave him good news. Adding more cool ones to weigh, when merit money was already making all things basically equal on that front, and then writing the essay for the other appealing choices can be … well, sometimes the mind just starts to move on from applications to decisions, and at that point doing another essay can seem like going back, I guess. (Whereas my reaction was, “wow, you’re getting in everywhere! How about adding more schools! Fun fun!” But it’s not my app 
)