s high school juniors head into summer and begin to look around the corner to senior year, college is often foremost in their minds. Over the course of visiting colleges, reading brochures, and talking to friends, college counselors, and family, students are forming an idea of the kind of school they want to attend. Then comes the decision of applying to college early or not.
What are the Different Types of College Admissions?
There are two kinds of early decision options open to applicants in the college process. One is early decision (sometimes shortened to ED), which requires students to submit their application around November 1st of senior year. Students are usually notified by December 15th whether the college accepted or denied their application—or deferred them to regular decision.
There are a couple of big advantages to early decision. The first is that the acceptance rate tends to be higher in this round than in the regular decision round. The second is that if you are accepted your college process is over—giving you more time in your final semester to maintain grades, complete any scholarship applications, and take a little breathing room to reflect on your high school experience, enjoy remaining time with your friends, and prepare for college. Early decision is binding, meaning that if you are accepted you must attend that school. Assuming that the earlier deadline does not pose difficulties for you, this is the largest disadvantage of the early decision option, as you must be absolutely certain about the school to which you are applying.
Another admission option is early action, which operates in the same way as early decision except for the fact that admission is non-binding. You can be accepted to a school via early admission, and still apply to other schools and ultimately attend another college if you choose. The draw back to early admission is that the acceptance rate is not as high as early decision.
Finally, you can apply via regular decision. The application will be due by January 1st and you will find out in the spring. You can apply to as many schools as you would like and the acceptance rates are what they are depending on the school.
So which option should you go for? There’s no universal answer to the question of when you should apply to colleges, as it really all depends on how certain you are in your choice of school. If you have your heart set on a particular institution and have fully researched whether it is a good fit for you, then by all means take advantage of the (usually) higher admissions rates offered by early decision. If, however, you feel like you need time and options, go ahead and wait to apply in the regular decision round.
