<p>I saw an article here on CC by one of the CC moderators, who was also speaking as a former admissions person, where it was said that there is no admissions bump with Early Action.</p>
<p>I was advising my daughter to do EA, and it is a BIG hassle and cost trying to compress all the detail work of presenting a proper package by 12-01. She is, paradoxically, compromising her current 11 semester work load as a result.</p>
<p>Is the benefit of her doing EA worth it? - vs going a bit easier and doing RD?</p>
<p>Depends on a lot of different things.
For some schools, EA does have a slightly higher acceptance rate, for others, there is no difference.</p>
<p>If the date by which you'll hear back reduces the number of apps you'll make over all, that can be a big plus. For example, if you'll get a response by 12/15, and it's a positive one, you may choose to skip apps to some of your safeties. If you won't hear back til 1/15, this doesn't help at all.</p>
<p>My d. got in two apps for 11/1 - an EA and one that was a scholarship deadline. And her school work definitely took a hit. I'll be honest - I don't know how kids are supposed to do these awesome academic schedules and file apps too. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>The reason that acceptance rates are usually higher for early action and early decision is because the students with the higher stasistics or are strongest apply then. They would have been accepted in the regular decision pool anyways.</p>
<p>Yale:
"Q. Is there an advantage to applying Single-Choice Early Action to Yale? </p>
<p>A. Historically, the rate of admission among early applicants has been higher than the overall admission rate. On the other hand, this higher rate reflects the fact that many of our strongest candidates, from a full range of backgrounds and interests, apply early. We would therefore offer this advice: you should apply for Early Action if you have a strong interest in Yale and if you are comfortable early in your senior year with the credentials you will be presenting to the Admissions Committee. The important thing to note is that an Early Action applicant must meet the same criteria for admission as an applicant in the regular pool. A thoughtful college search and a careful assessment of your readiness to present a strong application as early as November 1st are key. Candidates who need more time, for whatever reason, will be better served by our Regular Decision process. "</p>
<p>EA (which is non-binding) really doesn’t give you any sort of “bump” in admission the way that ED (which is binding) does at certain schools. So the only advantage to EA is, as chaucers_pal has already pointed out, if the acceptance comes early enough that your daughter can skip putting in some other applications.</p>
<p>Since the EA deadline you are talking about is 12/1, I doubt that the response would come before the Jan. 1 application deadline for RD at most schools. (And it really would have to come even earlier because she needs time to prepare the applications and order test scores.) So you don't benefit from the one advantage EA can give you – saving time and money. Therefore, I would advise your daughter to take the extra time and apply RD. There’s no reason for her to stress out trying to get it in earlier, and she will probably do a much better job with more time.</p>