Is applying ED/EA extremely competitive for selective schools?

vonlost
Wed, 27 Nov 2013 18:08:41 +0000

“An early action application is associated with a 17 to 20 percentage point increase in admission probability, and an early decision application with a 31 to 37 percentage point increase” does indeed apply to the pool of those who are qualified for admission to the school, not to an individual. The problem is that an individual does not know in advance if s/he is a member of the pool; if s/he is, the increases apply.

The study controlled for athletes, legacies, etc.:

The same probit specification was used for each college and includes as controls: SAT scores, rating of high school quality, rating of reported activities, and dummy variables for race (Asian, Asian American, Black, Hispanic, Other), family connections (alumni child, sibling attended given college), and indicators for athletic recruit, male, private school student, financial aid appli- cant, applying from high school in the same state as the college, and having at least one parent attend graduate school.