Early Action & Early Decision
“I’m applying Early Decision because it will help my chances of getting in.”
There are always myths to debunk in the college application process, and as university counsellors, this is one that many will fall for. And it’s easy to understand why. In the face of ever shrinking acceptance rates at competitive universities, an EA/ED application appears to provide an attractive option. And what makes this myth especially enticing is that university generated application statistics seem to support the belief that the EA/ED applicant will enjoy better odds of getting into that highly selective school.
It may be true that ‘ the numbers don’t lie,’ but this is one instance where they can surely mislead. Taken at face value, for instance, a glance at Early Action/Early Decision statistics would seem to confirm that EA/ED applicants enjoy a considerable advantage in comparison to regular decision applicants:
Here’s what the numbers don’t reveal:
From the EA/ED applicant pool, universities will routinely first accept applicants who are recruited athletes, children of faculty members, as well as the children of graduates and generous donors, These applicants tend to apply in disproportionally higher numbers in the ED/EA round resulting in skewed admission percentages since these applicants are traditionally admitted at a higher rate and included by universities in their EA/ED statistics.
The EA/ED acceptance rate lowers significantly if you remove these students from the EA/ED pool. In fact, for many universities, the actual acceptance rate for the remaining EA/ED applicants is sometimes lower, but it is often not significantly different from that of the regular decision pool.
Ironically, these misleading statistics and the pervasiveness of the EA/ED myth has helped drive an increase in the total number of early applicants. The end result? A further lowering of acceptance rates for this pool at many competitive universities.
For a variety of reasons, the EA/ED applicant pool is always stronger over all than the regular applicant pool, thus a higher acceptance rate is to be expected from early applicants.
Bottom line: while the over all acceptance rate for EA/ED applicants may be higher than that of the regular pool, it is important to understand that no single applicant has a greater chance of being admitted by applying early; ie. a single applicant's chances of being admitted does not increase. What's more is the fact that the borderline or marginally achieving applicant to a competitive university has an even lower possibility of acceptance from the EA/ED pool as this is frequently the highest achieving, most competitive segment of the applicant pool. He/she is going up against the best and brightest, so why would a university take a chance on a borderline applicant at this stage of the process?
Anecdotally, CIS has seen a decrease in EA/ED acceptances in recent years and an increase in deferrals. Other international schools are reporting a similar trend. This is not a reflection on the caliber of our applicants, but on the increase in the total number of EA/ED applications worldwide.
So again, applying EA/ED should not be seen as a shortcut to gaining admission to that highly competitive school. Nor should it be employed as a “Let’s just give it a try and see what happens” strategy. Any EA/ED application should be well considered, researched and sincere.
Also remember that applying EA/ED means getting your application materials together much sooner (typically by mid to late October). That means at the very least that you will need to have essays completed, recommendation letters on file, application completed, and standardized testing completed (by the November test date at the latest). In order to submit a quality application, we strongly recommend that any EA/ED applicant complete as many application components over the summer as possible.
A final point to consider is your transcript. Universities will be basing their EA/ED decision on your CIS academic performance through Year 12. They will not see your Year 13 grades in this round. If you did not finish on a strong note in Year 12, your chances of gaining an EA/ED offer will be adversely affected given the very competitive nature of this pool of applicants.
Who should apply ED?
Any marginal statistical edge that an early application might impart needs to take a back seat to the following all-important considerations:
Has the student researched a school of interest in depth thereby gaining a thorough and realistic understanding of how the institution is well suited to meeting his/her needs?
Is the student absolutely sure that the institution is his/her first choice? Is the student willing to withdraw all other applications (including non-US) to accept an ED offer?
Is the student academically qualified with a consistently solid academic record that meets the university’s entrance statistics for successful applicants?
Is the student well organized enough to meet early application deadlines while maintaining academic performance?
Will an application submitted in November going to be the strongest the student can produce?
Who shouldn’t apply ED?
Students who are applying early because “everyone else is” or subscribe to the belief that an early application provides a huge statistical advantage in admissibility.
Students who just want to get the application process over with.
Students who think that applying early will lower their stress. Yes, getting an early offer may relieve the student from having to apply to other institutions and waiting several months for results. BUT, what if the early applicant is unsuccessful? What does that do for his/her stress?
Students who are not fully committed to the college, or who adopt an “I just want to give it a shot” mentality.
Students who want or need to demonstrate a strong improvement in academic performance in semester 1 of Year 13 are disadvantaged by applying early. For ED applicants, student academic performance will be primarily assessed through the applicant’s transcript through Year 12. Year 13 grades will play no part in the admission decision.
Students who are submitting an application that isn’t as strong as it might have been due to time constraints.
Has the application been thoroughly completed in a timely fashion?
Are the essays as well written as they can be?
Who should apply EA?
EA might be appropriate for students who feel that their current transcript is a best reflection of their academic performance and potential; in other words, a student who feels that his/her first semester grades from Year 13 are not likely to show a marked increase over previous semesters. Keep in mind though that EA is non-binding so universities understand that an EA application may not accurately reflect the applicant’s interest in their school.
EA might be appropriate for students who want to signal that they have a strong interest in a particular school while meeting the above criteria and are comfortable with having Expected Grades locked in by late September.
EA applicants should be confident that their application materials (including essays, supplements, etc.) will be at their best in time to meet EA application deadlines (typically, November 1st).
Who shouldn’t apply EA?
Students who have not thoroughly researched schools of interest.
Students who are unfamiliar with individual university EA policies.
Students who are simply testing the EA waters: “I just want to see if I’ll get any offers.”
Students who feel there’s a good chance that their 1st semester academic performance and transcript grades are likely to reflect improvement over previous transcript grades.
Students who are simply using EA as an application strategy and have no serious interest in a potential EA school.
As in all other matters relating to your college process, you're strongly advised to discuss your EA/ED questions with your university counsellor.