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yeah.. i'm quite ignorant on this matter... so i'm asking u guys! thnx in advance!

By Neobez (Neobez) on Tuesday, June 08, 2004 - 01:38 pm: Edit

Early Action is not binding. Early Decision is. Hence, Early Action percentages don't differ that greatly from regular decision. Early Decision acceptance numbers generally are way more favorable than Regular Decision, but it is binding.

By Twojaw (Twojaw) on Tuesday, June 08, 2004 - 02:12 pm: Edit

Since no one on the other threads would answer my questions I found this out about ED2. Apparently there are some LAC's (Davidson is an example) offer a second Early Decision program. This one has a deadline of January 1 with a notification date of February. So in summary there are:

EA (Traditional Early Action) nonbinding, no restriction on how many schools can apply, Deadline usually November with notification in mid December ex. MIT, UChicago

SCEA (Single Choice Early Action) nonbinding, can only apply to that one school and no others early, Deadline also in November with notification in mid December ex. Harvard, Yale, Stanford

ED (Early Decision) binding, depending on school can apply either to just this one school or can apply to EA schools simultaneously. Deadline in November with notification in mid December ex. UPenn, Princeton, Columbia

ED2(Early Decision Program 2) binding, Deadline Jan 1 with notification in February. ex. Davidson

ID ( Interim Decision) nonbinding, Deadline December with notification in February. Only example I know is Rice

RD ( Regular Decision) nonbinding, Deadline usually Jan 1 (Rice is slightly later) with notification from midMarch to April 1

While it is true that some EA programs do not have a higher admit rate than RD ( MIT is a good example) there is more consideration to the idea that you are a serious applicant to that school because you are apply early (this is the case with MIT) and early stats may actually be less than those in RD (this is seen particulary with UPenn for their ED program). some SCEA programs had higher admit rates than RD (Stanford is the example here). ED programs have a general rate of about twice the RD admit rate. Stanford SCEA this year was nearly twice the RD rate. So it makes sense to apply early, just be judicious in your choice. If you UPenn is number 1 choice, your best chance is to apply ED. If you can apply to your sole ED school and apply to a couple EA schools. If your early choice is a SCEA then you are stuck. Good luck. Warm up thos dice because it is all a crapshoot.