Many college applicants wonder if they should apply to a college as an early decision applicant. This article will discuss the process of making this important decision and following it through. Let's begin by discussing four types of early applications:
- Regular Early Decision -- this is the procedure most people think of when they talk about early applications. The student must send in their application quite early (depending on the school between late October and mid-December). They are informed of the college's decision also quite early, often within a few weeks of sending in their application. If the student is admitted, they are bound to attending that college.
- Early Decision Two -- primarily in use at small liberal arts colleges, this procedure has much in common with the preceding one. However, the deadlines are much later -- often simultaneous with (or just a few weeks earlier than) the regular decision deadline. Students are held to attending the school if they are admitted.
- Early Action -- only available at a few schools, early action allows students to apply just as early as in regular early decision and hear back just as soon, but the students are not held to attending.
- Rolling Admissions -- this is not an early application procedure per say, but it bears mentioning. Under rolling admissions, students can apply at any time between when the application becomes available for the desired term of entry and some deadline (either in late spring, the summer, or right around the beginning of classes, depending on the school). They receive a decision within a few weeks of applying. The student's chance of admission is greater the earlier they apply, but the student is not held to the college's decision.
Many people believe that early application increases a student's chance of getting into the college of their choice. But don't apply just for this reason. You are by no means guaranteed admission -- schools can and do deny early applicants, and they can also defer you to the regular decision period. However, at many colleges, a deferral is barely better than a denial. Few are accepted after a deferral -- the applicants are merely granted a few more months of waiting with their hopes up. Also, it is important to remember that under early decision rules, once that application is mailed you must attend the school if admitted. This means that you must call or write all the other schools to which you applied and withdraw your application (you won't even get to find out if you were accepted by Uncle George's alma mater)! If you reject your acceptance and try to go to another college, you will find that you have been blacklisted and your only option will be a community college or other small local institution. Once accepted under early decision, the only real way to change your mind is to attend the college for a semester and then transfer -- go through the whole process again.
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