There are a lot of things to consider when trying to decide to apply Early Decision to the school. The most important ones range from do you need serious financial aid to do you really love the school. Besides these first two, I’m going to walk you through a bunch of other questions you should ask yourself before applying early. Before I go on, however, know that early decision does statistically help your chances tremendously (e.g Penn’s ED acceptance rate is around 25%, while its RD rate is around 12%).
Some people use ED as a hail mary to get into a school, or as a way to demonstrate tremendous interest in a school (which is fine). Personally, I really loved Penn, and was a pretty qualified applicant. So, I used it as a way to sort of “ensure” (how sure can you get with college admissions?) acceptance at a school that was one of my top choices. I think everybody should apply to a school ED, though. The advantage it gives you in admissions is too great to pass up. Definitely be sure that you want to attend the school you’re applying to early, however. Don’t just apply because of the name or any other relatively unimportant reason. If you’re not going to be happy there, you won’t succeed.
As always, good luck in your applications!
P.S Register for AdmitSee with the invite code “SEBI” for an extra $10 credit!
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