@classof2017 I’m not sure EA is always “more selective” but where an applicant is rejected early it is true that he wouldn’t have been accepted in RD either. BC says the acceptance rate is slightly lower EA but in the past it has accepted so many EA relative to the number of seats available because its yield from that group was low. Now the yield is increasing from EA so it needs to accept fewer in RD, or make it tougher in EA.
In general, schools that defer all EA/ED applicants who aren’t accepted are saying they are all “on the fence” but that clearly just isn’t true.