<p>Judging from the statistics, Yale University's early program acceptance rate is still considerably lower than other competitive schools, and PLUS it is binding. I would much rather apply to Yale early if it had an ED program instead of SCEA.</p>
<p>And that's speaking as a fairly-confident candidate who considers Yale her absolute top-choice. Do you all really think the whopping 10% advantage from SCEA is worth missing all other EA programs (for which you can apply to multiple schools)?</p>
<p>I just feel like SCEA is like a more-evil ED. Screw it. :</p>
<p>What are you talking about? SCEA is non-binding, where ED is binding. It only means that you can't apply to any other schools early (with some exceptions) not that you're required to attend. Are you trying to compare it to unrestricted EA which allows you to apply to other schools early as well and is non-binding? I think you need to review the difference between early programs.</p>
<p>I meant "binding" in the sense that you cannot apply to any other early programs, hence single-choice. I didn't mean that you HAD to attend Yale if you were accepted. Sorry about the confusion, I shouldn't have used that word.</p>
<p>Can you imagine how many people would apply if they didn't have that rule? When Harvard tried non-single-choice EA a few years ago, it was swamped by applications. I'm too lazy to look it up, but I think I remember that it got almost 8,000 EA applications, at a time when it was still drawing fewer than 20,000 applications overall. Making it single-choice cut the number of early applications in half.</p>
<p>Yeah, of course. It is a lot riskier. Harvard and Princeton needs to reinstate their EA policy to SCEA. That'll draw out some of the potential Yale SCEA applicants.</p>
<p>Not necessarily. The rules vary from college to college. Some schools (I believe Columbia still falls in this category) let you apply EA to other colleges as well as ED to Columbia, but if you're admitted to Columbia ED, you must withdraw all other applications and attend Columbia. Others don't allow any EA applications along with the ED application, but do permit ED applicants to submit concurrent applications to state publics with rolling admissions policies. </p>
<p>You have to check each school's website to find out exactly how their early options work.</p>
<p>I wish Yale had ED too! This would make it a lot easier for ppl who have more than one first choices. I mean, its not my fault that all the ivies are a crapshoot.</p>
<p>How does ED help students who have "more than one first choice?" ED locks you in; if you're accepted, you must attend. SCEA benefits students who haven't pinpointed a first choice. If you're accepted, you still can apply to other schools RD and keep all your options open until May 1.</p>
<p>Vicky_sky, wjb: I think wjb is right. ED would help the most if you had pinpointed a single first choice. However, for people with multiple top choices, schools with non-single choice EA are ideal in my opinion. For a person like me who thinks of Yale as her first choice but is too shaky to apply early to only one school, SCEA is the devil. I just don't see myself applying to SCEA when the odds are still stacked against me. Maybe if I win the Nobel Prize this year or something.</p>
<p>Most EA colleges don't care whether you are applying ED somewhere. The exceptions I know about are Georgetown and BC (I think), that don't want you applying to them EA if you have an ED application anywhere, and of course Yale and Stanford that don't want you applying EA or ED anywhere if you apply to them EA. Except for Yale and Stanford, none of the EA colleges limit the number of EA applications you can do simultaneously.</p>
<p>I only know of one "single choice ED" college, where you aren't permitted to apply EA anywhere else simultaneously: Brown. There may be others, but I haven't heard about them.</p>
<p>Note that none of the colleges with restrictions considers public university rolling admissions applications EA applications. So you CAN apply simultaneously to Yale SCEA and to, say, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Penn State. There are also some more obscure exceptions tailored to specific programs at less-known LACs. I know they exist, but I don't know much about them. Occasionally people post about this. In addition, a number of LACs have "ED II", where you apply at the regular time but commit to go if they accept you in February. If you get deferred (or rejected, of course) from Yale in December, you are free to apply ED II anywhere you want.</p>
<p>
[quote]
SCEA, RD, the chances are nearly the same.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Not at Yale last year. The SCEA acceptance rate was about 18%, the RD acceptance rate a mere 5.6%. Although the common wisdom says the EA pool is stronger than the RD pool, that's still a pretty big disparity.</p>
<p>JHS -- Thanks for the clarification on ED and simultaneous EA applications. I didn't realize there were so many schools that permit a student to file both.</p>
<p>"The only big drawback to Yale's SCEA is that lots of the Pton and Harvard applicants flood it." </p>
<p>that's absolutely correct. </p>
<p>this is a hypothetical example: a student who wants to go to Columbia (let's say Columbia engineering just for the heck of it) is persuaded out of applying ED because his/her parents want him/her to use "the early to the best potential and aim really high". so this applicant applies early action to yale. </p>
<p>the problem is...yale EA is COMPLETELY FLOODED WITH harvard and princeton hopefuls. i can name so many people in my own high school who want to attend harvard and princeton (and have a legitimate shot) and are applying to yale EA. yale can accept them, harvard and princeton can accept them later, and they may dump yale for H or P-ton later. </p>
<p>yale fully knows this, so that's why EA to yale is very, very risky. you're competing with people who want to go to harvard who are just applying for the hell of it. and why would any college accept someone EA when he/she may just reject the college later? thus, ED for yale would be better. </p>
<p>back to my situation: the kid is rejected from yale EA and rejected from columbia. now, if this person had applied ED to columbia, he/she might have stood a solid chance. however, this person threw a great opportunity down the drain and wasted a potential ED for yale SCEA. </p>
<p>i wish i could tell some people in my school this.</p>
<p>Can Yale see the other colleges to which you're applying? For example, if applicant A's top choice school is really Yale, and they're not applying to H or P, and applicant B is applying to H and/or P, could Yale see this, and if so, would they use it as a tiebreaker between A and B, all other things being equal?</p>
<p>but i think 95% of the time it's safe to assume that if you're applying to yale, you're applying to at least one other ivy league school. </p>
<p>It's not fair, however the facts are that sometimes you don't get into your top choice, but you get into someone else's. Sometimes people who don't give two poops get into your top choice when you don't.</p>