Applying ED and EA can help a lot (though not to the extreme some of us might think of, here's a link with the ED and EA rates for some selective schools
https://www.toptieradmissions.com/r...y-league-early-admission-stats-class-of-2023/). For instance, MIT's acceptance rate was pretty much the same for EA and regular decision.
As respects having to withdraw the apps to SAs, you need to either check the ED college's website or call them. Some allow for apps to SAs, some even allow for apps to state colleges. Think about it though, would a school raise issues if their ED was declined due to a choice of military service?
I would raise issues if I were a school. The primary intent of ED is to attend the school if selected NOT to increase your chances to attend it as a back-up in case you don’t get accepted to the school you really want to attend - service academy or not.
It’s using the system selfishly IMHO. Ok. I get people will say well ED is being selfishly used by the school. It is purely for the school’s benefit. Yada yada. But does that mean WE have to use it in that manner too???
There are plenty of kids who would LOVE to attend (name of elite school where ED offers an advantage) but can’t because someone who did get accepted used the ED solely to increase the chance of acceptance but really intends to go an SA - and then pulls out the “I want to serve, let me out of my ED commitment to go to an SA” card.
My oldest got into her dream school via ED, so I know the value of it. My younger daughter, now a plebe at West Point, absolutely had the stats to apply to Duke, Northwestern, Hopkins, Vanderbilt, etc... via ED but didn’t because she wanted to go to a SA.
It’s just wrong to use ED and assume it’s morally ok to back out of it because you want to attend an SA. To me, that’s the same person who eats at a restaurant in uniform hoping someone will pick up the tab. It’s using the I want to serve, patriotic motivation, etc ...inappropriately.
As officers, especially when we assume leadership positions, we have to assume risk when appropriate. We do what we can to mitigate risk and then decide if we still want to assume the residual risk.
It’s good kids start that thought process when it involves something that isn’t life or death like, you know, getting into a particular school. Not the end of the world if you have to attend plan D, E, and F.
You assume risk when you apply to an SA. You mitigate the risk by getting high ACT/SAT scores, GPA, etc... Now that you’ve done all that, are you still willing to assume the risk of applying to an SA and NOT apply ED to Vanderbilt, for example? Do you go with the 23% ED acceptance rate to Duke or the 9-10% acceptance rate to West Point? Can’t have your cake an eat it too.