Thank you for this. I’ve thought about this a lot. The reason that I applied ED to Cornell is because of the research opportunities there which are relevant to me, and because I figured it would increase my odds compared to RD. My connection to Cornell was just a coincidence - I became involved in research that happened to have a connection to a professor there. It is not about having the name that it has.
For example, I applied to Penn State because of the relevant research opportunities there. And to Dickinson, even though it does not have an engineering program, because there is more than one path to my end goal and I would be able to find research opportunities on their farm.