Does Applying Early Action Improve My Chances?

Hello! I'm considering applying Early Action to some colleges, but I'm not sure if it increases my chances of getting accepted. Can anyone share their experiences or give advice on whether applying Early Action is worth it? Thanks in advance!

Hello! Applying Early Action (EA) can indeed improve your chances of admission, although the impact is generally smaller compared to Early Decision (ED). The main reason for the difference is that EA is non-binding, meaning you don't have to commit to attending, which doesn't provide colleges with the benefit of improving their yield (percentage of accepted students who actually enroll).

That being said, applying EA can still give you an advantage. On average, it could result in a 1.6x or a 60% increase in your chances of admission at highly selective colleges. However, this benefit becomes less pronounced as the selectivity of the school decreases. For example, if your initial chance of being admitted was 4%, applying EA could increase it to around 6.4%, which is a significant increase of 2.4 percentage points.

There are additional benefits to applying EA beyond the potential admission boost. These include receiving an admission decision earlier, having more time to prepare for housing and financial aid, and reducing potential stress as you'll know part of your college outcome sooner.

However, applying EA might not be worthwhile if you feel that your application could be stronger with more time. If you believe that you can achieve better grades, test scores, or extracurricular accomplishments by applying Regular Decision instead, it might be in your best interest to wait.