The Early Round of the highly selective college admissions process is a recipe for a high-stress autumn: tight deadlines, high stakes, and conflicting admissions information that are sure to drive any family crazy. Fortunately, you’ve come to the right place to piece through all of the misconceptions out there. We at Ivy Coach are big fans of Early Action and Early Decision. In fact, all of our package students apply in the Early round to their respective top choice schools. And why? Because of the unequivocal advantage that comes with drawing a line in the sand and declaring you know where you’d like to spend the next four years.

But taking advantage of the Early round admissions boost is easier said than done. Feel free to peruse the blog posts linked within this article to develop your sense of the most strategic path forward this admissions season.

A Comprehensive Breakdown of Early Action and Early Decision

• To start, what’s the difference between EA and ED? Early Decision is binding: applicants commit to attend if admitted and typically apply by November 1 of senior year, making only one such commitment. Early Action, on the other hand, is non-binding and also due around November 1; students accepted this way have until May 1 to decide where to enroll. In either case, a deferral is possible (and quite likely in the case of legacy applicants).
• For a more detailed breakdown of these two admissions rounds, including a discussion of the Early Decision II round, check out our blog on the subject here.
• Where does the Early Round advantage come from? Contrary to popular belief, it’s not about the preponderance of legacy applicants or recruited athletes in ED and EA rounds. While it’s true that most legacy applicants are rarely denied Early admission, this is largely due to courtesy, not real admissions chances. And even though recruited athletes are far likelier to get in than any other category of student, their admissions fate has no bearing on the rest of the Early applicants at a given college. So where does this advantage actually come from?
• The fact of the matter is that early-round applicants have an advantage because they’ve demonstrated their interest by listing their Early school first. They’re motivated, enthusiastic, and deeply love their Early round school.
• Admissions officers prize Early applicants because they’ve essentially risked it all (in the case of ED rounds, in which a binding commitment to attending the school upon admission must be made) for the sake of earning admission. Moreover, Early Round students are far more likely to take advantage of all the resources and opportunities their prospective campus has to offer by articulating their academic/extracurricular game plan (what we at Ivy Coach term a singular hook). Not everyone who applies in the Early Round has a singular hook, but the pool certainly has a higher proportion of students who do.
• Even amongst Ivy League schools, the Early Round advantage powers through the otherwise highly competitive Regular Decision applicant pool. Yes, the Regular Decision pool at these schools is more likely to include a high number of underrepresented minority applicants that admissions officers prize for their diversity (even after the fall of Affirmative Action), but the effect of this advantage does not outweigh the Early advantage.
• Still not convinced that you should apply via your top school’s Early round? Just take a look at Ivy Coach’s admissions results, representing our package students who have exclusively applied via their school’s Early Round. We simply don’t believe in squandering an admissions gift available to all students.
• And remember: the clock is ticking to get these applications in! Check out the Early Round deadlines for America’s top schools.

Ivy Coach’s Assistance Optimizing Students’ Cases for Admission in the Early Round

Deadlines are near. To optimize your child’s admission case to top universities, fill out Ivy Coach’s complimentary consultation form, and we’ll contact you about our services led by our team of former elite college admissions officers.