I second the advice/observations of bdjkin. After watching my older one go through the admission process and seeing outcomes of other students in his high school, ED certainly seemed to give kids an edge at schools like Wash univ and vanderbilt and other similar ranked schools. I saw many students who applied to highly selective EA schools like HYP and than when they were rejected or deferred did not have success in getting in RD to Wash Univ.,vanderbilt or other similar schools. My older son now at UC Berkeley but was waitlisted at Vanderbilt, Wash Univ and some other schools . No one knows for sure but i think he would have gotten into these schools had he applied ED. His advice to his brother was go ED to Washington University if he loves it and pray for the best.