With over 450 colleges offering early action or early decision options to applicants, it can be hard to identify the best options for your child. Many early admissions opportunities can work to your student’s advantage, but some may not be advisable, especially this year.
Some schools, like those within the University of California system, only have one deadline. But others offer multiple deadlines, including an early option. In some cases, that choice can be binding, like early decision, while other early options are non-binding, like early action. But don’t worry. It doesn’t matter yet. We can help you understand the differences and strategize.
PROS
We advise many students to take advantage of the early action (non-binding) admission plan, or early decision (binding) option, because it’s great to get good news in December, when early decisions are released. Especially when a student applies to their “likely” schools and they get accepted, it can give them a real confidence boost.
And when a student applies early decision and gets accepted, she can stop worrying about the college application process and enjoy the rest of high school.
Proactively working on applications and essays in the summer and early fall will give your child a head start. The time management element of submitting early applications can also add great value to the process.
One of our students, Peter, had 17 essays to write. With our highly structured process Peter wrote 8 of his essays in the summer for early deadlines, and it paid off. Peter was accepted to 6 colleges early, including his top choice, U Penn!
CONS
On the other hand, sometimes it’s better to wait. Many students make the mistake of applying early decision or early action and are denied or deferred because they are not competitive applicants.
If new pieces of compelling information that might help admissions officers see the whole student better – like higher grades or awards – won’t be evident by the early deadlines, then it is best to wait and apply under the regular decision deadline, or early decision II in January.
Another drawback to applying early is that many schools do not offer as much financial aid to students applying early decision. If you are hoping your child might receive scholarships or merit aid from colleges, it usually it makes sense to wait and apply under regular decision deadlines.
At Colledge, our students applied early to over 86 colleges last fall. And they had an early acceptance rate of 87.1 percent – with overwhelming success!
If you would like to discuss how we might work with your child on an early admissions strategy, click HERE to schedule a free consultation today.
