“The chance of getting merit scholarship at any competitive school is next to impossible. If the school is not competitive, you are not likely to apply ED anyway.”
Exactly.
At Vanderbilt, you have a 1% chance of getting a merit award and a 9% chance of getting in RD.
So how is the smart play to apply ED so you can avail yourself of the more favorable 24% ED admit rate?
Bad hypothetical that really doesn’t happen.