My original thinking was that if you apply ED to a reach school, it will be an advantage since they know you are going there if they accept you; they’re filling a definite spot. Further research seems to indicate that the most qualified candidates apply ED, and that one is at a disadvantage otherwise. If you don’t get accepted ED, does the school dump you back into the general RD pool; or is the rejection outright and that is that? Same question for EA…
Some schools reject you outright. Other schools will either reject you or defer you to Regular Decision.
If you need/want merit aid do not apply ED.
If you are rejected ED or EA you would be rejected RD too.
@leigha111 the disadvantage of applying ED is that if you get accepted you had better be able to afford the school because there is no backing out. As a general rule, if your income is too high to qualify for any need-based aid but you can’t afford full pay, or close to full pay, then you shouldn’t be applying ED. If you get admitted ED there you have no leverage to negotiate more aid. And if you break out of the ED contract other applicants at your school will suffer because colleges do not like when an applicant breaks out of an ED contract. So they may not accept any more ED applicants from your school.
ED is an advantage if you don’t need financial aid, AND you are close enough to their stats to have a decent chance of admission.
“If you don’t get accepted ED, does the school dump you back into the general RD pool; or is the rejection outright and that is that?”
Some students are deferred to the RD pool, whereas others are rejected outright.
There are NO disadvantages to applying EA, however, as far as I am aware. (See below for an afterthought I had.)
And it gives you a non-quantifiable boost by showing your interest in the school and your initiative in getting your application completed early. Plus, although you’ll be scrambling to complete your app early, most of what you complete will carry over to your RD apps, so the whole process can be over and done with sooner. EA acceptances can be a morale booster and motivator. EA rejections might help you refine your college list or cause you to tweak your application, although time will be somewhat short.
One possible disadvantage of EA would be if you need more time in the Fall of senior year to bring a grade up, retake tests, or for a recommender to get to know you better, etc.
I highly recommend applying EA to at least one well chosen school where you reasonably expect acceptance.
Thanks all for your responses. Re: going back into the general RD pool or not; would it be okay to ask admissions directly what their policy is?
Usually it just depends on the applicant. I believe all schools either deny OR defer a particular student. I have not heard of a school that just admits or denies EA and/or ED applicants and never defers. If there is such a school I’m sure someone here on cc will pipe up.
I think Common Data Sets may show the stats.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with asking Admissions but I would recommend doing some online research first so you can say that you tried to find the information before calling or emailing.
As an example, I did some googling, and Georgetown’s policy is to accept or defer all EA applicants. They don’t reject anyone EA.
That would seem to make the most sense. I’ll google around myself. Thanks for your input 