Applying Early Decision can give you a significant strategic advantage when seeking an offer at selective US Universities. Vela Education advisees want to attend some of the most prestigious universities in the world and we help them make decisions to increase their chances of acceptance. There are two main pathways for your application: Early Decision/Early Action and Regular Decision. The US News and World Report provides an excellent explanation of these options.

When it comes to Early Decision, it is important to understand that you can make strategic decisions that can give you an advantage in the application process. Early Decision applications mean that when you apply to that university that you will attend if given an offer. the student, their parent / guardian, and school counselor must sign a binding document stating that the student will attend if admitted. This is a series decision! But the payoff is significant.

Some institutions weigh Early Decision more heavily than others. For instance, colleges such as the University of Pennsylvania, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Brown University, and Duke University  all accept more than half of their incoming class in the early round. If one of these schools is your first choice you should very seriously consider applying ED 1. For example, the University of Pennsylvania received 56,000 total admissions for the 2021 cycle with an acceptance rate of 6%. However, the university received 7,796 applications during the Early Decision round with 1,218 places being offered at this time. These places make up over half of the incoming class with an acceptance rate of over 15%.

Why does it work like this? The Early Decision round shows the university that you are committed to attending their college. They are giving these places to students who will accept their offer, thus protecting their “yield”. Yield is the percentage of students who accept a place at a given college out of the total number of places that are offered. These colleges “yield-protect”, meaning they want to boost the number of places that they know will be accepted. They are able to have a higher percentage yield because they offer over half of their places during the Early Decision round.

Early Decision is popular with a range of other selective universities, including Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, and Washington University in St Louis (read our spotlight on “Wash-U” here!). This is an important strategic decision, so it is wise to discuss it with your advisor.  This is a commitment and should not be undertaken lightly. However, it is also a very strategic choice to make as applying to US colleges becomes increasingly competitive.

Lastly, it is important to note that there are times when applying early does not give a student an advantage. Yale, Princeton, and Harvard do not need to yield protect in the same way. These schools offer Single-Choice Early Action. This is not legally binding, but you can only apply to one school with this option! Thus, you will not receive the same advantage and may miss out on another great school because you did not apply ED 1. Discuss your profile with an advisor to make an informed decision.

Navigating the US college admissions cycle can be difficult, and Vela Education is here to help. At Vela Education, we aim to make this process as clear as possible and have also created a timeline for students to follow. Also, you can read about the different stages of the application – from university choice to writing those essays – on our blog. We also host regular webinars on a range of topics. If you would like a more tailored approach, you can contact us to arrange a strategic consultation.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out to us.