@JHS at post #4: You can walk away? Are you sure? Is that clause included in the ED contract? Because ED is supposed to be a binding agreement so even if one school doesn’t enforce it as a practical matter, that doesn’t mean another school will follow suit. We know a few schools that take the ED contract very seriously indeed and to break it w/o extraordinary circumstance (job loss may count, sloppy financial planning will not) could jeopardize the applicant’s status with his/her remaining schools. Why risk that? ED is for serious applicants who have thought through the ramifications of contracting with the institution. Really wanting to go and wanting to increase chances as much as possible are necessary but not sufficient criteria for applying ED.