<p>Well, it has been debated many times the benefits of applying early and that the percent admitted is much higher, but highly selective schools are likely to admit you in the early round only if you would be admitted in the RD round. So… I would say go ahead and apply early, but be cautious of what to expect. If you don’t have strong (above a schools average) scores or stand-out EC’s you might be rejected, if you have all the marks of a competitive applicant (good scores, EC’s etc) you will be deferred (I was deferred by Yale SCEA and later rejected, but this happens often cause deferral rates are too high… Grrh, they should really only defer those who they know are likely to be admitted, not just those who have a slim chance) and if you have what the school wants you’ll be admitted. Your GPA is probably slightly hurtful to your appliation, but it should be fine. I know for me the 4 B’s I had were a bit worrisome, and may have hurt me slightly, but I was admitted to amazing schools, and waitlisted at just as selective schools. (I did have a 35 ACT and an interesting EC though). To me this means my GPA and test scores and EC’s and essays etc. were all up to par, but I wasn’t exactly the applicant the schools wanted. So, moral of my paragraph, you will likely be admitted not based on your GPA, but for who you are and what you do outside of class and how well you explain that in essays. You may be waitlisted or rejected for who you are and what you do and for a multitude of other reasons. Does that make sense?</p>