This is helpful for students in need of financial aid who can compare award offers from several schools. However, some schools, such as Harvard, Princeton and Yale, only offer single-choice early action programs, in which students can commit to just one early action college. Early decision and early action applications are typically due by Nov. If a student is deferred, he or she will enter the pool for regular admission and will likely not hear back until mid-March or mid-April.
Applying early can be beneficial to both students and colleges. Schools with early decision programs tend to have higher acceptance rates for those applicants than for the overall applicant pool. Early decision is more valuable to colleges than early action because it helps them determine their yield of accepted applicants who actually enroll in college.
Yield is important to schools because it influences rankings and desirability among prospective students. Stephanie Klein Wassink, founder of AdmissionsCheckup. Students with strong junior-year grades and standardized test scores are better candidates for early applications. Those with applications that could benefit from boosted fall semester grades or who are taking fall ACT or SAT tests may want to wait for regular admission before applying.
Above all, if a student chooses early decision, he or she needs to be sure of the decision before applying. For those ready to apply, but unsure of their choices, early action allows for more flexibility. Ultimately, receiving early admission could mean a less stressful senior year for savvy applicants. What does early decision mean? Our free chancing engine takes into account your history, background, test scores, and extracurricular activities to show you your real chances of admission—and how to improve them.
On the flip side, students who apply EA will be able to consider financial aid packages from their Early Action and Regular Decision schools.
Having these different offers gives students leverage and allows them to better negotiate their financial aid.
Due to the restrictive nature of early decision, a college-bound student can only apply to one college via ED. Unlike early decision, students applying through early action can apply to as many schools as they desire through EA and regular decision with no obligation to attend if accepted.
Common at competitive schools, like those of the Ivy League, candidates applying via REA and SCEA processes are not bound to attend if accepted, but may not apply for ED or EA at any other institution—they may, however, apply to as many schools as they like through regular decision.
Both early decision and early action applicants generally have higher acceptance rates than regular decision candidates, however, ED candidates get the bigger admissions boost. This is because ED also has the greatest benefit to the schools, as it allows them some control over the ratio of accepted students to those who enroll.
Is early decision better than early action? Yes and no. Many students believe applying early means competing with fewer applicants and increasing their chances for acceptance.
This is not always true. Colleges vary in the proportion of the class admitted early and in the percentage of early applicants they admit.
Higher admission rates for ED applicants may correlate to stronger profiles among candidates choosing ED. Students should ask the admission office whether their institution's admission standards differ between ED and regular applicants, and then assess whether applying early makes sense given their own profile.
The Common Application and some colleges' application forms require the student applying under early decision, as well as the parent and counselor, to sign an ED agreement form spelling out the plan's conditions. Make it clear in your school handbook and at college planning events that your policy for early-decision applications is to send the student's final transcript to one college only: anything else is unethical.
Print out and share the Early Decision and Early Action Calendar with students and parents to be sure they are aware of all the required steps for applying early. Education Professionals. The benefits and drawbacks of applying early Early decision ED and early action EA plans can be beneficial to students — but only to those who have thought through their college options carefully and have a clear preference for one institution.
Early decision versus early action Early decision plans are binding — a student who is accepted as an ED applicant must attend the college. ED applicants Apply early usually in November to first-choice college. Receive an admission decision from the college well in advance of the usual notification date usually by December. Agree to attend the college if accepted and offered a financial aid package that is considered adequate by the family. Apply to only one college early decision. Apply to other colleges under regular admission plans.
Withdraw all other applications if accepted by ED. Send a nonrefundable deposit well in advance of May 1. EA applicants Apply early. Receive an admission decision early in the admission cycle usually in January or February.
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