Answer 1

Early Decision is BINDING - You  sign an Early Decision contract agreeing to attend the particular school that you are applying ED to, regardless of any other college you might be accepted to. You sign, you apply, you get accepted, you go - that is the promise you are making to the school when you sign the contract.

Early Action - You DO NOT sign any contract but do submit by the Early Action deadline. Early Action is NON BINDING so you can apply without promising to attend the school you are applying to as an EA applicant.

When Early Action began some years ago, as an option, it was viewed as a great alternative to ED. After all, by applying as an EA candidate, you are letting the school know that you are very interested in attending their institution. Through the use of the websites associated with Collegedata.com or, Naviance, you will be able to see if applying as an EA candidate to any of the schools on your list, has merit. Both sites will show in graph form, the % of applicants which, were accepted that, had applied using the Early Action option. Since applying as an EA candidate is NON BINDING, you can apply often to several colleges through this option but, pls. keep in mind the paragraph below!

In recent years another category has entered the field:

Single Choice Early Action - Some colleges such as Yale and Harvard (just two examples)  do not permit applicants to apply to any other college as an EA student until, mid-December, when decisions have been made at which point students may then apply to other schools through this option.

Be sure to check with the admissions office or look on each schools website, to see if they are using the Single Choice EA option.

Good Luck!