<p>At what schools does applying early decision/action make a difference? </p>
<p>If I remember correctly, at Swarthmore, the woman who ran the information session said that an applicant who is on the brink may be accepted if they apply early decision.</p>
<p>A college should never make a broad promise or statement that applying ED will help since admissions is based on the strength of the individual applicant. Some colleges show a clear statistical difference for those applying ED but it is really specific to each college. You may want to check out the past Common Data Sets for Swarthmore and see the acceptance rate for those applying ED versus RD to see what a difference it would make. Good luck to you!</p>
<p>It makes a difference at many rolling admit schools.</p>