I think depends on the school. A school like UMD Is open about it. Some engineering programs are open about it too.
Some tie merit to when you apply. Emory doesn’t have EA but you have to apply early to get merit sake with W&L I believe.
But there may be cases where it doesn’t matter too. As far as disadvantage - not sure. Maybe if a school yields unexpectedly low applying later would have been better.
Also if you needed a chance to improve your record with a strong fall, rd might give an advantage.
Our two kids applied early action and rolling admissions early…for every school on their lists that offered this option. Actually, they each had all but one of their applications completed by October 15. They said it made their senior years in high school so much nicer. They watched friends who were completing these applications during the holiday season…and each of our kids already had a few acceptances.
So…my free advice. Do early action (not REA or SCEA) anywhere you can do it. Get your applications all done.
Re: an admission advantage….our kids didn’t apply EA for any kind of admission advantage. They did it to get these applications out of the way.
I’m 100% sure it depends on the school - I don’t recall ever hearing anything through admissions presentations or rumors that EA might ever present a disadvantage, several AO’s alluded to a preference for EA.
Some schools are up front on their preference for EA submissions. From an actual % of admit and/or merit and other considerations unless we had someone on the “inside” those aren’t statistics that are commonly published. I recall during some Admissions presentations AO stating specifically “it makes no difference to us EA/RD”.
EA allows a school to spread out the application review process over a longer period of time and when application counts are ever-increasing they need additional time or to hire additional AO’s. For schools that weigh in demonstrated interest ED is the ultimate but EA still ranks ahead of RD.
EA also allows for the potential option at two bites at the apple if they’re not sure about you and defer you to RD.
There’s really no down side to EA if the student is ready to submit. If they need additional time for an SAT/ACT re-take, provide Q1/Q2 Senior grades, portfolio/audition all reasons why it might get directed towards RD though.
As others have said above, it depends on the school.
For the private elite schools that offer REA/SCEA, I have seen a higher rate of acceptance in the early round vs RD, so I believe there’s an advantage.
Among popular/top public schools, definitely a huge advantage in EA at UMD (they fill 90%+ of their class early), Purdue and UIUC, and IMO also at GT and Michigan.
At places like MIT I don’t believe EA provides an advantage.
I think the only kids that would be disadvantaged would be those that are expecting better grades later in their senior year, or haven’t had sufficient time to work on their essays.
I am strongly suspicious of the pressure to apply EA for smaller colleges. I think at some point we are going to find out that it’s a scam and that colleges are trying to benefit from the early rush.
I know Lawrence U is not a highly competitive admit, but the AO there said my S22 was not any more likely to get in EA vs RD. He ended up getting in RD with a lower than the average GPA and a very generous scholarship.
My S25 will be applying RD any place that is not a safety because he needs the extra semester of grades on his transcript (had some issues early on with maturity/work ethic but doing great now).
Another thought is if you have multiple strong kids from your school or area applying EA, your student might look better in the RD round.
What advantage do these schools gain? Early Action is NOT a binding acceptance for the student. All that the colleges might gain is spreading out applications over the whole season more.
I think it increases yield for the college or university. I am starting to hear college counselors on social media say that EA is not the advantage you think it is for SLACS and privates.
Good examples, and I agree it depends on the school. A few more…
Tulane’s EA acceptance rate is higher than RD.
USC stated they had an EA acceptance last year (EA’s first year) was 11% (including those deferred into RD) and 9% RD, so that is likely meaningfully different as well. Not to mention…no merit possibility for those in RD (except those applying for majors requiring portfolio/audition.)
Georgia Tech EA1 for in-state and EA2 for OOS have higher acceptance rates than RD.
U Miami and Trinity U (TX) have higher EA rates than RD. Like Tulane, they both also have ED, which means RD applicants are competing for relatively few seats in the class.
Many, probably most, SLACs don’t have EA. Perhaps they were talking about ED? After removing hooked applicants from the ED pool (recruited athletes, Questbridge, Posse, legacy, etc) the difference in acceptance rates compared to RD is not nearly as dramatic as it is at first blush.
For the schools that give us acceptance rates by round of admission, it is easy to see the EA vs RD differences. Then there are the group where many majors fill up in EA, some mentioned already in posts on this board. Better get in your apps during EA at those schools.
RD is used to balance the class (gender, major, etc, etc)…and no one, not even admissions peeps, knows in advance what the RD priorities will be.
Bottom line, know the policies and acceptance data at the schools one is applying to.
They are talking about EA. I am very aware of the difference between EA and ED, my S25 is my third kid going through the process. I see the statistical differences between EA and RD. But what’s missing is a comparative analysis of the characteristics between the two application pools. I am strongly suspicious that for many schools the EA pool has more desirable stats and that explains the difference in acceptance rates.
What pressure is there from the school to apply EA? Other than as @Mwfan1921 states to know the policies and acceptance data at the school one is applying to, there’s administratively zero difference between EA/RD.
How do you know if the kids in your school or area are applying EA or RD?
How would EA increase a schools yield? Students can only pick 1 school to attend regardless of if they apply EA or RD and the commit-to date for either round is typically the same at 5/1.
My D had both Purdue and UMD on her college list and both schools were very, very upfront that they fill the vast majority of their class in EA and that some majors close out completely in EA. As such, she applied EA to any school on her list that had that option and submitted even the RD apps early because she was ready. She was done entirely by mid October (and already had a rolling admit safety acceptance) so it made for a much less stressful senior year.
I do think though that it varies school to school and families/students need to do their due diligence. It’s more complicated for students who need senior grades to show upward trends.
So what I have heard is they often believe that beginning the post-admission marketing phase before other colleges notify can potentially improve their yield. Indeed, you can’t end up preferring a college to which you don’t apply, so if an EA admit discourages some applications to other colleges that with merit offers or whatever might have been competitive, that alone could modestly improve yield.
But I am skeptical this makes much difference in terms of actual admissions decisions, outside of REA/SCEA or the cases of limited majors and schools which truly fill up early. While it makes sense they would prefer to get started on the hard pitch to an applicant they know they want as soon as possible, it makes a lot less sense they would also admit someone they do not know they want just to start the hard pitch early.
I can’t think of any SLACs (where selective defined as less than 50% acceptance rate) that only have EA and RD rounds with no ED, besides Berea. (Not talking about restrictive EA programs either). These schools use ED as yield enhancers far more so than EA.
I wouldn’t be surprised if EA has a higher yield than RD, as some students will naturally gravitate to the first/one of the first schools that accepts them. They have time to build relationships with incoming classmates, learn more about the school during admitted student programming sessions, attend an admitted student’s day, etc. All things that make the ultimate school selection process relatively more difficult and time-constrained for RD admits.
If you are thinking that purposely holding back a strong applicant to RD to an SLAC may allow them to stand out more in the pool, I personally wouldn’t wait…because you have no idea what that school will be looking for in the RD round. These schools will take students with relatively lower academics who fit the institutional priorities over a stronger academic student who doesn’t fit an institutional need in RD. Scholarship/discount money at the non-meet full need schools may also be lower in RD. With that said, it could still work out for a given student, and as your S is a male that may well be an RD institutional priority at some SLACs.
Yeah, my two cents is the applicant will know when they have their best application ready. And if it is ready by an EA deadline and there is not some conflicting rule, why not submit? I would not overthink what might be going on behind the scenes, because it is too unpredictable.
And really, the best bet is in the vast majority of cases the timing will make no difference to the college’s decision. Except in those known cases where a specific program really does “fill up” early, there is an increasing standard in rolling admissions, there is an early scholarship deadline, or something concrete like that. But absent that–I really think for non-binding early applications, just submit when your best application is ready and it is otherwise convenient for you.
For selective colleges, I always believed if you are the proverbial “tuba player” with deficiencies in other parts of the application, EA/REA/ED is the way to go. The “tuba” section may already be filled by RD.
I don’t see any downside to applying EA except where the application can be enhanced between the EA and RD deadlines (grades, test scores, awards, better essays) and there is a high reject rate vs deferral rate for that college, like Stanford.
Whether EA provides an admissions advantage will depend on the school, but in any case, no matter the result, it gives the applicant some intelligence on the strength of their application. A bunch of rejections and deferrals? Maybe you’re aiming to high. Adjust your RD list. A bunch of acceptances? Take a shot at some reaches/far reaches. Rejections at schools where your grades and test score put you above the median of matriculated students? Might want to revisit your essays and LoR’s.