By Brenda Ward
College Admissions Counselor at Galin Education
The essays are written and the college applications are ready. So much thought has gone into the where the student is applying and the quality of the application itself. The time to click “Submit” is near.
But before applications are sent to those carefully selected admission offices, it’s a good idea to reconsider the plan under which the student is applying. Early decision, early action, or regular admission? Which one is right?
Early Decision
Early decision plans require an earlier deadline (usually November 1) and promise an early admission decision (usually December 15). If the student applies to a college via Early Decision and is accepted, he or she is committed and bound to enrolling at that college. The student may apply Early Decision to only one college and is expected to withdraw applications to all other colleges upon acceptance to the Early Decision college. Early Decision is a binding agreement.
Early Action
This is a non-binding application program with similar deadlines. The student applies by the November 1 deadline and receives an admission decision by the middle of December. However, the student is not obligated to commit to the college until the usual May 1 response deadline. The advantage is earlier notification.
There are variations on these two early programs, such as Early Decision II and Restricted Early Action Single Choice (Stanford and Yale, for instance), but Early Decision and Early Action are the most common options.
Priority Deadline
Most public colleges and universities do not offer an early decision option. However, many public colleges post Priority Admission or Notification Deadlines. For instance, UW-Madison posts a “First Fall Notification” deadline of November 1. Students who meet this deadline are promised an admission decision by the end of January. The second fall notification deadline for UW-Madison is February 1. This deadline promises an admission decision by the end of March. The University notes that applications are reviewed using the same criteria regardless of which deadline the student meets. The advantage is the earlier deadline provides earlier notification of the decision. The University of Minnesota posts a December 15 priority admission deadline. Applications after this date may not be given the same consideration or review.
Regular Admission
Most colleges have a “regular admission” deadline around January 1 (although this deadline may vary, so students must be vigilant about deadlines at each of their colleges). All applicants are reviewed after this deadline with admission decisions being returned on or prior to April 1. Students are asked to submit their admission decision to the colleges by May 1.
Rolling Admission
Some colleges offer a rolling admission process in which applications are accepted, evaluated, and decided upon as they are received. Rolling plans usually have an opening date, and applications are accepted until the college has filled its incoming class. The student usually gets an admission decision about six weeks after filing the application. Many UW-System colleges and universities use rolling admission programs.
Why Apply Early Decision?
Because Early Decision is binding and offers the most potential benefit to the student, it requires the most careful consideration. Applying early decision often increases the chances of admission significantly. Here are some examples of admission rates from decisions made for Classes of 2013:
Bucknell University 54.8% Early Admit 25.8% Overall Admit
Cornell University 29.5% Early Admit 15.5% Overall Admit
Duke University 29.65 % Early Admit 11.58% Overall Admit
Colleges like early decisions for many reasons, but the statistics also reflect a slight difference between students who apply early and those who apply via the regular admission deadline. Early decision applicants are usually highly interested and well qualified students who fit the college’s academic profile. Although applying early will never secure admission for a student who is not within the admissible range, it can provide a boost to qualified students without exceptional profiles.
Students who apply early decision may get admitted, denied, or deferred. If deferred, the student has the opportunity to enhance the application with new information for the regular deadline. However, the student’s application will also be reviewed with the regular applicant pool (and most likely with less favorable admission rates).
Why Not Early Decision?
To apply early decision, the student must be very confident of his or her top college choice and highly unlikely to experience a change of heart. This means that the student has arrived at the decision after thorough research, has demonstrated interest to the college through college visits and other communication, and is ready to submit a carefully crafted application with everything in order by November 1.
Early Decision means that the student’s college application process may be done by mid-December. The Early Decision student will never know if he or she would have been accepted by other colleges on the list or what financial aid packages other colleges might have offered. If the student is just beginning to develop talents and interests at the start of the senior year, he or she may want to keep college options open up until the May 1 response deadline. Early Decision is for those who know.
The early decision deadline offers real benefits to students who are ready, but if there is uncertainty or if meeting the deadline might compromise the quality of the application, then it’s probably wise to wait.
