<p>Overkill. Nondorf may be making changes, but not all at once, and I would be shocked if the unique essays (which are an important and successful marketing device) were messed with.</p>
<p>EA vs. RD – This year, the admissions percentages were very close. I don’t remember exactly, and I’m not going to go back and figure it out again, but something like 28% EA and 23% RD (taking into account deferred EAs). It’s not enough of a difference to make a big difference in your plans. (That’s basically true of all the EA schools, by the way. Because EA isn’t binding on the applicant, it’s a lot more student-friendly, and many more people apply EA than apply to the equivalent colleges ED.)</p>
<p>That said, if you know you want to apply, and you’re not applying SCEA to Stanford or Yale (or ED to Brown, which has a dopey rule about this), then there’s no reason NOT to apply EA. It’s nice to know in December, if you can.</p>