<p>^By this logic, a reverse situation may also be true…that applying to one of these schools early with legacy status from another, might help as it shows a clear preference away from the parent’s school.</p>
<p>I do think it will have an effect on the early action process for Yale. My guess is that, in recent years, students who wanted Harvard or Princeton, but did not want to lock themselves into an Early Decision, put their early EA application toward Yale if it was a school that was in any way a consideration. I think that next year some students who would have applied to Yale will use their EA opportunity at Harvard or Princeton. It might lower the number of EA applicants for Yale. But I don’t think it will have a big trickle-down effect to other schools necessarily, except that there will be a small number of kids who apply to fewer schools after getting in EA to Harvard or Princeton. </p>
<p>Also, I don’t think it’s necessarily trophy-hunting to apply to other top schools after getting into a school early. It’s smart to use an EA application because there is nothing to lose. But to discourage EA applicants from applying elsewhere is not much different than saying they should apply Early Decision. The whole point of Early Action is to free students from the feeling that they must go to the first school that accepts them. My daughter was admitted early to Stanford and ended up going to Yale after a lot of soul-searching. The first place that admits a student isn’t necessarily where a student is going to end up or where they should end up. Additionally, a later acceptance may offer better financial aid which is a big consideration for a lot of people.</p>