<p>Personally, I really liked having EA as an option. I am not sure how it affected my choice, but it was nice to have months to consider Yale and what it had to offer. The month of April is very, very short for applicants, and it’s almost impossible to really get a good feeling for a school in such a short amount of time. Likewise, you don’t want to get your hopes up for a school that you haven’t been admitted to yet. So I guess it comes down to this: does EA help Yale? Maybe (see below)… but in a way that benefits the student, too.</p>
<p>It was nice to hear back in the form of likely letters, too, and I think it’s actually really great that schools send those out so that students have a way to start planning for the May 1st decision date.</p>
<p>Back when Harvard and Yale both had EA and Princeton had ED, yield rates were at basically the same level as they are right now. Yale’s financial aid is as strong as Harvard’s, and Princeton is generally pretty close. I don’t think aid played a huge role here. So holding that as a constant, I’d say that EA didn’t have such a huge impact on yield rates. Just an idea…</p>