It is very common to apply to an ED school, as well as few EA schools, but knowing one would have to pull out of EA schools if admitted by the ED school. It is what D2 did. She applied to 1 ED school and 3 EA schools. She notified the EA schools after she was admitted to her ED school. Any one of those schools would have been a good fit for her if she should have been admitted. Again, was her ED school her #1 choice, maybe not, but did it work out well for her, yes. At the same time, with so many similar schools out there, how could someone say College X is my #1 choice, and not College Y.