<p>Dear gene098 : Here on College Confidential’s Boston College forum, I have done several analyses covering this very topic - typically, one each year for the last six or seven years to be honest. The flaw in your general question about Early Admission versus Regular Decision is that students will typically look at the applicant pool talent exclusively without regard for the number of slots available from each reading session.</p>
<p>What do I mean by this ? Let’s make it simple. Each year, Boston College enrolls about 2,250 students. Let’s further assume that everyone accepted also enrolls. (In other words, ignore yield, acceptance rates, and application pool sizes for a minute.) Now, if you knew that only 1 slot was allocated in the EA round and 2,249 in the RD round, would you apply EA? Probably not. </p>
<p>Now, let’s turn this back to Boston College. If the EA pool is exceptionally strong in a given year, more slots might be offered early which puts strain on the number of RD pool applicants that can be accepted. So, while rough numbers are assigned to each pool as target acceptance numbers, the fact is that the numbers can drift which can change the dynamic.</p>
<p>Now, EA application quality is typically higher than the RD round - further, the RD round includes many Ivy Caliber applications that see Boston College as a next selection option.</p>
<p>So, EA is a stronger pool when considered en masse with a smaller number of applications (7,000) for proportionally more slots when compared to RD pool. That said, the RD application pool is so very large (24,000), that the top end talent is more likely to fill the available class slots. Also remember that EA deferrals are rolled into the RD pool (about 60% of EA applications).</p>
<p>In closing, the next question usually asked is whether a deferred EA application has a better chance in the RD pool. Statistics show that an EA deferral is typically deferred, waitlisted, or rejected more often than accepted in the RD round. [Think of it this way - the RD pool contains as many top level applicants - and more - than the EA pool although the EA pool as a whole when averaged is stronger.]</p>