university admission rates with early decision/action?

There was an article in "The Atlantic", that stated that early decision applications was like adding 100 points to your SAT score:

"Below this formal structure lies a crucial reality, which Penn is almost alone in forthrightly disclosing: students have a much better chance of being admitted if they apply early decision than if they wait to join the regular pool.

For instance, when selecting its class of 2004, which entered college last fall, Yale admitted more than a third (37 percent) of the students who applied early and less than a sixth (16 percent) of those who applied regular. The most extreme difference among major colleges was at Columbia, where 40 percent of the earlies and 14 percent of the regulars were accepted. Amherst accepted 35 percent of the earlies and 19 percent of the regulars. Hamilton College, in upstate New York, took 70 percent of the earlies and 43 percent of the regulars. At the University of Pennsylvania 47 percent of early applicants and 26 percent of regular applicants were admitted.

These comparisons obviously count for something. The chance of being lost in the shuffle was presumably less among Princeton's 1,825 ED applicants last year, of whom 31 percent (559) were accepted, than among its 11,900 regulars, of whom about 11 percent got in. But these simple comparisons make the early advantage look larger than it really is. At very selective schools like Princeton students in the ED pool have better grades and higher test scores than regular applicants, so it could be called fair and logical that a higher proportion of them get in. Harvard admits more than a quarter of its nonbinding early-action applicants and only a ninth of its regular pool. William Fitzsimmons, Harvard's director of admissions, says that standards applied to its early and regular applicants are identical: the difference in acceptance rate, he claims, comes purely from the fact that so many students with a good chance of being admitted apply early, whereas the regular pool contains a larger proportion of long shots. "We put on our 'spring hats,'" he told me recently, "and if there is someone we are absolutely sure we will admit in the spring, we make the offer in the fall. We are very comfortable with these decisions."

The real question about the ED skew is whether the prospects for any given student differ depending on when he or she applies. Last fall Christopher Avery, of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, and several colleagues produced smoking-gun evidence that they do. The authors analyzed five years' worth of admissions records from fourteen selective colleges, involving a total of 500,000 applications, and interviewed 400 college students, sixty high school seniors, and thirty-five counselors. They found that at the ED schools an early application was worth as much in the competition for admission as scoring 100 extra points on the SAT. For instance, a student with a combined SAT score of 1400 to 1490 (out of 1600) who applied early was as likely to be accepted as a regular-admission student scoring 1500 to 1600. An early student scoring 1200 to 1290 was more likely to be accepted than a regular student scoring 1300 to 1390."

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200109/fallows

And here's a chart with the ED acceptance rates at the Ivy leagues schools:

http://collegehunt.blogspot.com/2006/01/2006-early...

You cannot go by ED/EA acceptance rates to judge your chance of being accepted. At the Ivies, the ED/EA acceptance rates may be higher than the regular decision acceptance rates, but that is because the applicants are usually the very top students, the students who are the most likely to be admitted no matter what pool they're in, the kids with 4.0 unweighted in the most rigorous classes at the most rigorous schools, 2400 and close SATs, 800's on SAT II's, 5's on all APs, statewide and national awards, amazing extracurriculars. So for a student who isn't at the top of the applicant stats, you have less of a chance to be admitted than you do with regular admission because ED/EA applicants are typically the most competitive and you will be compared to them. Better to be in the pool with students who aren't all at the very top. While showing interest in the college with ED/EA may carry a little weight at some colleges (but not at the Ivies, makes no difference), again, early applicants are usually the strongest, and the most prepared. Be sure to read the rules on EA/ED to make sure you know if the decision is binding, if you cannot apply early elsewhere even if it isn't binding, etc. (My dh participates in the admissions process for his Ivy alma mater, and our son attends a top private school with high Ivy matriculation, so I'm aware of how it works.) U of Arizona doesn't have EA/ED, even for the Honors College and National Merit Finalists who are taking their offer of almost a free ride. The UC's don't have EA/ED either. I believe NYU has several choices of EA/ED, some are binding, so check carefully. USC doesn't have EA/ED, but it does have a December 1 deadline for some programs and for scholarship consideration. Other colleges have early deadlines that aren't EA/ED for certain programs. Good luck!