Early Decision (ED)
Binding. Deadline usually 1 November, decision mid-December. If admitted, the student withdraws every other application and attends.
ED carries a real statistical advantage at most schools that offer it — the admit rate in the early round is typically several times the regular one, though part of that gap is recruited athletes and legacies rather than a pure timing effect.
What it costs is the ability to compare financial aid offers. You accept whatever package arrives. Only use ED where the family has run the school's net price calculator and can afford the result without comparison shopping. The escape hatch for genuinely unaffordable aid exists but is narrow and unpleasant to use.
Early Decision II (ED2)
Identical rules, January deadline. Useful after a denial or deferral elsewhere, and consistently underused — a student denied ED in December can still apply ED2 somewhere they love and get the same binding-round advantage.
Early Action (EA)
Non-binding and unrestricted. Apply early, hear early, decide by 1 May. There is no reason not to use unrestricted EA wherever it exists — MIT, Georgia Tech, Michigan, and many others. It costs nothing and removes uncertainty in December.
Restrictive Early Action / Single-Choice Early Action (REA/SCEA)
Non-binding, but it blocks most other private early applications. Stanford, Harvard, Yale and Princeton use versions of this.
The restrictions differ meaningfully between them. Most permit applying early to public universities. Some permit non-binding EA at other private colleges and some do not. Some carve out early applications for scholarship deadlines. Read the specific policy on the specific school's site — general advice about "REA" is wrong about at least one of these schools at any given time.
And the UCs have none of it
The University of California has no early option at all. One filing window, 1–30 November, for all nine campuses. Applying to a UC never conflicts with an REA policy, because it is not an early application.
Otherwise: is there an REA school worth the trade? → REA, plus any permitted public EA.
Otherwise: apply EA absolutely everywhere it exists, non-restrictively, and keep ED2 in reserve for January.
Two things families get wrong
Applying ED to a reach the family cannot afford. This is the single most damaging error in the early round, and it happens every year.
Treating a deferral as a rejection. Deferred applications are moved into the regular pool and read again. A short, factual letter of continued interest — new grades, new results, one specific reason for the school — is worth sending where the school accepts them.
Common questions
Is Early Decision legally binding?
It is a signed commitment by the student, parent and counselor rather than a legal contract, but colleges enforce it and share ED lists with each other. Breaking it without a genuine financial reason can cost the student their other offers.
Can you apply to a UC if you applied Restrictive Early Action somewhere?
Generally yes — most REA policies permit applications to public universities, and the UC application is not an early application in any case. Confirm the specific school’s policy.
Does applying early actually improve your chances?
Early-round admit rates are usually higher, though part of the gap comes from recruited athletes and legacy applicants concentrated in that round. The advantage is real but smaller than the headline numbers suggest.
What is ED2?
Early Decision II — the same binding agreement with a January deadline. It is useful after an early denial or deferral and is under-used.
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