What are early admissions programs in US college admissions? And what do people mean when they say “early decision?”
I’ve been hearing these questions a lot lately.
Students in Grade 12 have now lived through their first cycle of early admissions in US college admissions. At this point in the year, these questions come from students in Grades 10 or 11. So this post is for you!
What’s Early Decision?
If your courses or activities include students in Grade 12, chances are good that you’ve heard the term early decision. This is especially likely if you have peers applying to selective and highly selective colleges in the United States. In these conversations, you may have also heard terms like early action, restricted early action, and single choice early action. Or maybe you’ve just heard the acronyms: ED, EA, REA, SCEA, respectively.
Your peers may have used these terms with ease. Perhaps they’ve said: “I can’t decide if Reed or UChicago is my top choice, so I’ll apply early action to both.” Or maybe: “I LOVE Northwestern and always have, I’m going ED there for sure.” If they’ve really made complex plans, you may have heard something along the lines of: “My first deadline is Nov 1 REA for Stanford. If I get deferred, then I’ll apply to Harvey Mudd ED II in January.”
Hearing these comments likely left you a little confused. If you have not done extensive research on types of US college admissions, you probably felt lost.
Well then you’re in luck. This post will introduce you to the various early admissions programs or options in the US college admissions landscape.
US College Admissions Processes
Colleges and universities in the United States accept applications from prospective students through a variety of different admissions programs or options. However, all of these processes follow the same basic steps. First, a student submits a completed application and other required documents. Then, the college reviews the full application. Finally, the college communicates the admissions decision back to the student. Pretty straightforward, right?
3 Differences between Regular and Early Admissions
Now, lets get into how these processes can differ by admissions programs. US college admissions programs differ in when the admission deadline falls, when the admissions decisions come out, and if the admissions includes any binding agreements.
- Deadlines: For the most part*, early decision or early action admissions deadlines fall—you guessed it—earlier than a regular deadline. November 1 is the most common early deadline for schools offering early decision or early action. Some schools have November 15 deadlines. A small number of schools have an October 15 early deadline.
- *Some schools offer an Early Decision II round. This deadline often falls on the same, exact date as their Regular Decision deadline—so not at all early.
- Decisions Out: One of the biggest benefits to the prospective student who applies in an early admissions program is receiving the admissions decision earlier. In many cases, prospective students will know if they’ve been admitted or not before they go into winter break. Compared to decisions from Regular Decision, which can come out as late as mid-April, applying early and hearing back early can help calm the anxiety of preparing for college.
- Binding Commitment: Early decision admissions plans require students to sign a binding agreement along with their applications. Under the binding agreement, if a student is admitted they will enroll in that school and withdraw all other college applications they’ve submitted. This agreement is a part of the application and is “signed” not only by the student, but by the student’s parent and school counselor, too. In contrast to binding programs, some colleges offer non-binding options where the student applicant gets the benefit of receiving an admissions decision earlier in the year but is not obligated to attend the specific college.
Choosing an Early Admissions Plan
Each college can choose which admissions programs to offer. And not all colleges offer all of the types of admissions programs described here. For example, you can’t apply early action to Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. This is because Whitman doesn’t offer early action as one of their admissions programs. Be sure to do your research to see what options for admission you have based on the schools to which you plan to apply.
(And yes, Whitman is a real college. And the town that Whitman is in is really named Walla Walla. The name comes from the delicious sweet onions grown in the region. Admitted students receive a box of these onions, shipped to their home address. The picture below shows the box of onions and letter I received after visiting campus a few years ago. Both the onions and Whitman college were excellent.)
NACAC’s Definitions of Admission Options in Higher Education
Let’s get back to early admissions plans. My go-to resource for students and families to learn about the different options in US college admissions is below. The National Association of College Admission Counseling (NACAC) created the table below, which can also be found at their website here.
You’ll see that the plans are divided based on if they have any associated restrictions. There are 2 plans with restrictions that students need to be aware of and follow. These plans are the binding early decision (ED) plan and the non-binding restricted early action (REA) plans (also called single choice early action, SCEA). The restricted or single choice plan is non-binding (no commitment) and still allows students to apply to other colleges, even apply early to other colleges if it meets the schools REA policy. This plan is called restricted because the college can specify their own policy about where else students may/may not apply early. Some institutions state that students may apply to any other public institution in a non-binding early agreement. Comparatively, some institutions state that students can apply to no other institution in any early program, whether public or private.
Benefits or Drawbacks to Early Admissions?
At some schools, applying early, especially early decision, can be a “boost” for student’s application. Applying early decision is arguably the biggest indication of demonstrated interest a student can make. (If you’re not sure what demonstrated interest is, check out this blog series.) For students who are on the edge of being admitted based on their GPA and test scores, applying early may increase their chances of acceptance.
Starting with the high school class of 2020, US colleges are able to offer additional incentives to students applying early decision. Previously, colleges couldn’t “sweeten the deal” for students to encourage more early decision applications per NACAC’s ethical code. This is no longer the case, and while the decision is still quite new, we’re already seeing some colleges offering choice amenities (residence options, parking spots, etc.) for students who apply early decision. This will be an interesting development to monitor in the upcoming years. If you’re curious to learn more about this new development in US college admissions, check out this article.
Early decision needs to be used appropriately, though. If you apply early decision to a school that you’re not completely sure you love, you might find yourself feeling trapped in that you’ve committed to attending that school, if admitted. What if your feelings or plans change as Grade 12 continues?
Also, students who apply early decision are not able to compare financial aid offers from other institutions. This is important because many students pursuing US colleges need to plan carefully for the cost of college. Forgoing the opportunity to see what other schools can offer you for financial aid can be a huge drawback to applying early decision.
Should You Consider Early Admissions?
So should you consider an early admissions program?
It depends. Will you be prepared to submit polished, complete applications as early as mid-October of Grade 12? Do you know which schools you wish to apply to or are you still considering all of your options? Do you have a top choice school, that you have been drawn to above all others for a significant amount of time?
As you can see, US college admissions can be pretty complex. Deciding which admissions plans best suit your situation and needs, given the list of schools you plan to apply to, is an important factor in your overall college planning. I’d recommend first determining your list of colleges and then looking at which admissions options make sense for you based on the options offered and your own specific situation.
Helping students smoothly navigate their options and journey successfully through US college admissions is what I do. If you’d like more help with figuring out your admissions strategy or any other part of the complex college planning process, let’s chat!
