<p>The ED “slots” run out a lot sooner; there are many more RD slots to hand out.</p>
<p>In other words, by the time Swarthmore gets to those last 10 RD spots --they’ve already admitted roughly 800 RD students – more than triple the total number of ED admits. If a hypothetical college accepts 200 students during ED, and 800 students RD – then each ED applicant is hoping to be selected for 1 of 200 spots, whereas each RD student is aiming for 1 of 800.</p>