Will early decision (ED) give you better chances compared to restrictive early action (REA)?

cptofthehouse
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 03:06:24 +0000

From a number of analyses I have seen EA , including REA tends to confer an advantage of RD. That is not the case for every school. MIT, notably did not show much or any advantage. There are other schools that might also be the same. It’s difficult to tell how much of an advantage early action confers because a lot of specialty admissions are taken early such as athletes and other categories discussed above.

IMO, and this is just that, there often is a bit of a boost because psychologically we are more generous in allowing entrance into an empty room rather than one verging on full. I know Admissions Directors, and the ones I know truly like being ADMISSIONS directors , not REJECTION Directors. They want to get that class filled and they love accepting qualified , interested students. At the beginning of the admissions season, they are fresh to start accepting students, there aren’t as many applications, and they have their wishlists from the various parts of the school that they want fulfill. The essays are new—they haven’t read the 100th essay about how grandmom is the most wonderful person in a students life, how all people from around the world are so alike, how that winning touchdown after a trying season felt, etc etc. The first applications have that advantage. By the time the RD season arrives, certain patterns emerge, and what sounds unusual, marvelous, remarks, talented may also be very common that year. So there is that advantage being early. Also, a lot of kids, mine included really are done with their applications if they send out a batch of EA apps and get accepted by a school they like. Back a few years ago ,BC with just plain old EA would snag a lot of kids I know because once they were accepted there, some kids were content enough that they saw no point in applying to other colleges. They were done. I know my youngest was perfectly happy with his early list and decided that if he were denied or deferred from his ED school, he would pick from the EA schools that accepted him. He could just enjoy his senior year and not have to deal with applications anymore and move on to anticipating his college experience. He was set.

Most schools will give stronger consideration for ED because it’s a good deal for the schools too. They have a certain set of student established and locked in for the year. There is that fear for many AOs that they do not fill their class or that they don’t meet the requests made by various departments in the school if it’s all a crap shoot in spring. Nice to get that checklist secured early. ED helps the school quite s bit in meeting their needs.