<p>If I have a higher chance, and if it isn't binding, then what do I have to lose? I'm sure there's a catch.</p>
<p>There are two catches I know of:
- some schools let in athletes and/or legacies in EA, leading many to believe it’s harder than regular.
- If you apply EA, you GENERALLY can’t apply to other private EA schools. This was my scenario, so I had to choose one school to EA to. Once you EA at one school, you may forgo the opportunity to EA at other schools, which becomes significant if you don’t get admitted into your EA school.</p>
<p>The crushing anxiety and hopelessness that comes near Christmas decisions when all your friends are having fun with the upcoming holiday season, with the parents and relatives wondering what will happen. </p>
<p>Best case is an acceptance, where you can toss the Harvard, Stanford applications because you are too lazy to work on them any further. </p>
<p>Then it’s a rejection. You’re crushed as hell, your friends try to comfort you but they really don’t understand, you wasted 75 bucks that could have gone to pizza, and you have to apply to Harvard and a bunch of other schools which will cost hundreds of dollars. Everyone gives you the “there, there” kind of comfort, but at least that anxiety is gone right? </p>
<p>Then… there’s a deferral. You still have to do other apps, but the anxiety is still there, and you have to wait until late March… might as well have applied RD. But a small glimmer of hope that you were even deferred amongst all those super applicants, clashes with the fear that you were even deferred in the first place. What did I do wrong in my first app? Am I a “close but no cigar” kind of guy? What if they all reject me???.. </p>
<p>EA… there’s no catch. Good luck on your apps. It’s either Yale or Stanford for the top ten colleges really.</p>
<p>for your 2nd “catch” , even if I can’t put in another EA, isn’t it better to have 1 EA and go back to RD once you get deferred/rejected from EA?</p>
<p>don’t forget that there are schools like MIT, caltech, and Uchicago that have non-restrictive EA, unlike stanford and yale. You can apply to MIT, caltech, and uchicago EA. That is what I did, and I got into MIT EA.</p>
<p>Yes, it’s better to have one EA rather than none. I was just giving you a catch. A downside of applying EA is that you can’t EA at other schools. Opportunity costs.</p>
<p>gryffon: I fit under the “deferral” category. Your analysis is spot on. Luckily things all worked out in the end for me, though, and it seems for you as well.</p>
<p>You have less time to spend on your applications, so if you get rejected you’re left with a lot of coulda woulda shouldas. That’s why I waited til the last second to submit mine- they tell you not to do that, but it worked out for me.</p>
<p>^True as well. I definitely thought my EA application could have been significantly better had it been RD.</p>
<p>don’t want to make this into a chance thread or anything but…</p>
<p>given: </p>
<p>3.98UW/4.6W
2250~2300 (2110 first try in May, so I think its def. possible)
5 APs by end of jr. year (scores of 3,4,5,5,5)
Very rigorous schedule
Lots of music and humanities related ECs
Fair amount of volunteer work
Regional and some national awards</p>
<p>Would I make a good EA applicant?</p>
<p>Oh wait. I’m an ORM international :)</p>
<p>looking good until your last line.</p>
<p>You have to check the requirements of the schools you are applying to. Georgetown also has non-binding early action. Some large state schools want you to apply earlier in the process if you are interested in honors or merit money. Early decision is binding and some schools are early action one choice.</p>
<p>The downside to early action at our house was that my daughter lost all interest in continuing her studious ways: I’m in, I’m happy, I’m done. This only affects those who are conflict avoidance; for the reward-driven kids (which I think is a majority on here) it doesn’t affect the motivation.</p>
<p>hm… does yale view canadians any differently from other internationals?</p>
<p>another downfall would be feeling too rushed and sending a crappy app. </p>
<p>i (im a junior) am already wary of doing EA just in the situation that i suddenly realize something i should have done, or if my essays could be better or something like that.</p>
<p>It’s twice been stated on this thread that applying to EA restricts you from applying to other EA schools. * Only Yale and Stanford have restrictive EA (if there are others, please inform the readers of this thread).* Other colleges that offer EA have no restrictions – i.e. you can apply multiple EA apps (like what wildchartermage said)</p>
<p>Ditto - with few exceptions you can apply to as many EA schools as you want. In addition, particularly in the engineering world, large numbers of school have rolling, or stress “apply early” in their process. In fact Umich has that phrase in large letters splashed across their engineering admission info page. Webb wants applications in by November; Olin requires all by around Thanksgiving.</p>
<p>Therefore rethink the overall schedule for engineering apps. Write essays over the summer. Fill out app in September. Review and fine tune in October. Just assume everything is early something. To really get noticed, send an RD application September 1 to schools which have only ED and RD. Or send a Letter (hard copy to be placed in your file) in June, asking when is the earliest date you can file, becuase you really want to go to that school.</p>
<p>Admission director of Columbia noted an odd trend; applications submitted early have better overall appearance and depth. Applications submitted close to the deadline look rushed and are shallow. </p>
<p>Admission folks read applications as they come in. They are fresh and enthusiastic at the beginning. They try not to, but are tired and jaded farther into the process. Its hard to not look with prejudice on applications that fly in at the last minute.</p>
<p>In general, EA is a good deal for students, especially non-single-choice EA. The only (tiny) drawback is trickysocksman’s: putting in applications before you are really ready. But you can deal with that by making certain you do a good job on them. Also, if you think you are going to improve your grades in the first part of your senior year, you may want to wait to apply until you have them in hand.</p>
<p>One of the other benefits of EA is that it gives you something of a market test. If you apply EA to a school you think is a match, and you get rejected or deferred, that may tell you that you need an extra safety. If you get in, you can probably pare down the list of schools to which you apply.</p>
<p>Note that, at the colleges with nonrestricted EA, there is nothing like the admissions advantage that you see at ED schools. The slightly higher admissions percentages that you see are probably more than accounted for by recruited athletes and a stronger, more sophisticated applicant pool. And at MIT (which doesn’t have a lot of recruited athletes) I don’t think there is even any difference between the percentage of applications accepted EA vs. RD.</p>
<p>toadstool is right on. I applied into engineering as well, and I generally started earlier than many of my peers who didn’t. Also, it is important to note, you are allowed to apply in UMich’s and/or UofI’s early/rolling/priority (whatever they call it) decisions even if you are applying to a single choice restricted EA (like Yale or Stanford).</p>
<p>so… what is the difference between non-restrictive EA and RD other than the due date? given that I’m applying to schools that offer both.</p>
<p>^ They notify you earlier… so if you get into your first choice EA, you can save on so much money when applying RD 'cuz you don’t have to apply to any another schools.</p>
<p>Georgetown has restrictive EA.</p>
<p>Does EA really have a higher admit rate?</p>