What does your admissions counselor say? I’ve heard that ND reps will work closely with specific students to advice what is better option for them individually, regular or early. For what it is worth, we know a number of students at ND, and the students we know were advised to apply early ONLY if they were at the high end of applicants. Midrange and lower range students were advised to wait, bring up fall grades, and compete against the general pool.