Some of my clients have been using it to apply to safes to make sure they get in somewhere. You could also apply to reaches and get an idea of where you stand. There seems to be advantages to having two chances to send out applications.
This early action seems pretty new. When did it start?
It’s not new. I would imagine most people use it to lock in a safety early, like you said. Most T50 schools, with a few exceptions, do not offer EA, so it doesn’t really help much with gauging reaches.
For colleges that offer big merit packages, students often must apply EA to be eligible.
Yes, many schools dictate their EA deadline is also their deadline for merit consideration.
As long as the academic stats are ready in fall of senior year, our kids have been advised to apply unrestricted EA to every school on their list that offers it. (Of course, applicants need to be aware of any restrictions in early application rules by reading each college’s website.)