<p>I felt like coming out of retirement to answer this:</p>
<p>There are a few factors to consider about ED, at Brown and in general. The accept rate for ED at Brown is higher than for regular decision. This does not necessarily mean one is more likely to get in during ED, since many ED applicants are, for example, recruited athletes (who skew the numbers). Showing interest in general is very helpful, since (at least a couple years ago) the general consensus was that Brown considers interest and fit very highly in making their decisions, and committing yourself to Brown if you get in early would show interest; how much this matters is unclear. There’s probably some difference in the admissions committee early in the process compared to late in the process, whether intentional or not, since they’re human, but again it’s hard to prove this or its impact.</p>
<p>In general, though, a few points are worth making about ED. If you’re hoping for financial aid, you might be better off not applying ED so you can compare offers. If you don’t have a clear top choice, the same advice holds as well; often, one’s conception of the best fit school evolves over time.</p>
<p>I would, therefore, be cautious about applying early anywhere binding if either of the above statements apply, and I would not work under the assumption that applying ED confers a large benefit (we’re not admissions officers so we’re basing our comments on incomplete information, but the differences in ED and RD stats can be at least partially, if not entirely, explained away).</p>