Applying Early Decision (ED) is pretty straight-forward. You apply early – typically a Nov. 1 deadline, and you’re notified early – typically by mid-December. If you’re accepted, it’s binding – you must go. Since it is binding, you are allowed to apply to only one college ED. This commitment will require your signature, that of a parent, and your counselor stating that you understand that this is a binding commitment. In some instances, ED universities you are applying to might allow you to simultaneously apply to one or more colleges and universities that offer the Early Action option, which is non-binding. However, if the ED comes through and you are admitted, then that is where you will HAVE TO go. Breaking an ED commitment can have its consequences for both you and your high school!
Now, a small number of colleges/universities have added an Early Decision 2 option (ED2), with a January deadline (often January 1). ED 2 is frequently used by students who applied ED elsewhere and were either rejected or whose applications were deferred to be reviewed again in the Regular Decision (RD). ED2 also gives students a boost in admission rates, but not quite as high as in ED1. Students are generally notified of their ED2 decision around mid-February – versus late March when RD decisions come out. Colleges/universities love students who apply ED1 and ED2. It allows them to have a better grasp of the number of students they’ll need to accept in regular decision. Many institutions have a surprising bump in their ED acceptance rates compared with regular decision. This admissions boost is tracked by colleges/universities and can be viewed in this chart.
As you can see in the above chart, some universities double their regular acceptance rate in ED1 and ED2. The University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League institution, jumps from 7.1 percent in ED to 19.5 percent in RD, and accepts an astounding 54.1 percent of its incoming class in the early round. The University of Chicago, a highly ranked private university, offers ED1, ED2, as well as an EA option. Naturally, its ED options have much higher admission rates than its EA option.
There are trade-offs with Early Decision. Even though the numbers can be very appealing, families need to understand that the applicant pool for ED is typically stronger. Early Decision applicants are frequently athletes who are being recruited to play a sport for the university, legacy students whose parents attended the university, development cases (where the family has donated to the university), etc.
Since any ED and ED2 decisions is binding, once students are accepted ED, they are asked to withdraw their applications from all other colleges and universities where they applied. Applying Early Decision eliminates any possibility for a family to compare financial aid offers (for those who have applied for aid) or to even find out about need-based or merit-based aid at other schools. They will also never know if they would have been accepted to some of the universities from which they had to withdraw.
Early Decision is a great option for students who are ready with their applications in early fall, have finished their testing, their grades are the highest they will be, and who have visited the university to which they will be applying ED or ED2 and know that it is a good fit for them. Remember, this is BINDING!
Please note that a handful of universities offer a Restricted Early Action option (REA is offered by Stanford) or Single Choice Early Action option (SCEA offered by Harvard, Yale, Princeton). These allow you to apply to one single university early but they are non-binding and hence do not have as high an admission rate as ED1 and ED2 have!