It's mid-December now, and a crucial U.S. college application deadline is fast approaching——the ED2 application. Most schools' ED2 deadlines fall around January 1st or January 15th, with results typically released in mid-February.
At this point, many students and parents are torn: Should I apply ED2? Go for the dream school or play it safe? This article will give you all the answers~
01. Why Apply ED2?
Similar to ED, the main difference is the deadline. You can still only apply to one school, and it is binding. If you haven't applied ED before, or were rejected in ED, preparing an ED2 application is a good choice. Overall, submitting an ED2 application increases your admissions odds compared to RD.
From the schools' perspective, more binding commitments admitted means a higher yield rate, which indirectly affects annual rankings.
On the Common Application, about 30% of schools offer ED, while only 13% offer both ED and ED2. Among these 13%, most are highly ranked, competitive liberal arts colleges like Swarthmore, Middlebury, Carleton, Pomona, CMC, Vassar, etc.; there are also top-50 private universities such as Chicago, Emory, Vanderbilt, Tufts, NYU, Brandeis, Case Western, BU, and others. However, Ivy League schools do not offer ED2.
02. If Deferred in Early Action, Should You Apply ED2?
Generally, for top-tier Ivy-level schools, the number of students admitted from mainland China each year is very small—around 20. Admissions officers naturally want to select the best of the best and will likely hold off until the RD round to review more applications before deciding. In such cases, if you couldn't break through the intense competition in the first review round, your chances of getting an offer in the second round are still quite slim.
On the other hand, for somewhat lower-ranked schools that admit a lot more students from mainland China—like Case Western Reserve University and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign—the odds of admission in Regular Decision are still relatively high.
Many students worry: what if the early-applied school eventually admits you, and the ED2 school also admits you? What then?
Logically, this scenario is quite unlikely, but it's not impossible. So, choosing your ED2 school wisely is crucial. Pick a school that fits you and you genuinely like—so that even giving up a previous dream school would be worth it. If you're just not ready to enroll, you could opt for a gap year to defer enrollment. Whatever you do, it is strongly advised not to violate the ED agreement.
03. How to Choose an ED2 School?
If your chances of being admitted to an ED1 or EA school are high, you might as well aim higher with your ED2 choice and see if you can get into an even better school. Otherwise, forgo ED2 and wait patiently for your early application results. If your chances are low for ED1 or EA, then you need to choose your ED2 school carefully—pick one that suits you relatively well and has a higher admit rate, aiming to secure a good fit in the ED2 round.
Although there aren't many top comprehensive universities offering ED2, among the top 20, Vanderbilt University and Emory University are two schools students frequently choose. Many consider them the "last straw" for breaking into the Top 20! If you're confident, give these two a try.
More students will choose slightly lower-ranked schools, with NYU and Brandeis University becoming top picks. However, due to their prime locations, ED2 competition at these schools will be fierce, so be fully prepared when applying.
Many liberal arts colleges offer ED2. Thus, it's advisable to seriously consider these schools. While many may not be widely known, their campus environments and undergraduate education quality are often excellent.
Liberal Arts College Selection Tips:
Middlebury, Pomona, and CMC have always been popular among Chinese students and will undoubtedly attract a flood of applicants in ED2—choose carefully.
Carleton, Davidson, and Grinnell, due to their less desirable locations, face less intense competition, yet they are strong schools in their own right.
Harvey Mudd (HMC), Washington and Lee (W&L), Swarthmore, and Bowdoin fall into the highest difficulty tier.
Wesleyan, immensely popular in China and possibly one of the best-known liberal arts colleges there, sees many students wanting to avoid the fierce competition of comprehensive universities by choosing ED2. However, its actual admission difficulty is not much different from that of a top-10 liberal arts college.
