Application season is here. Whether you’re in the middle of it or still have some time left before you send applications, it’s important to understand the different kinds of applications that exist in US college admissions.
- Early Decision I
- Early Decision II
- Early Action
- Single Choice/Restricted Early Action
- Regular Decision
- Rolling Admissions
These are some of the most common types of applications you can send to colleges in the US. They each have different opportunities and limitations that need to be considered when crafting your overall strategy.
As we’ve guided countless students through this complicated process, we’d like to share some information we’re sure will be helpful in clarifying how everything works and what you can do.
First, we’ll cover each application type one by one to explain how it works. Then, we’ll discuss creating a strategy to maximize chances of admission.
What is Early Decision?
Early Decision is a popular type of college application in the United States. When you apply to a school under an early decision agreement, you sign a contract agreeing that if you are admitted, you will attend. This is what is known as a binding application.
Once you get in, you must withdraw all other applications that you have sent out and submit your deposit to enroll at the university you applied to early decision.
Of course, this implies that if you are applying somewhere early decision, you should be confident that it’s somewhere you would be happy spending the next four years. Otherwise, you will be locked into a binding contract with a school you may be less than enthusiastic about, with no easy way out.
Early Decision I and II are same, but differ in their application deadlines. Early Decision I applications are typically (not always, so please double check with each individual university) due on November 1. You typically get an admission decision December 15.
Early Decision II, on the other hand, usually has an application deadline of January 1, with students getting a decision by Feb 15. It is still binding.
We’ll talk about the implications of this in the strategy section at the end.
What is Early Action?
Early Action usually has the same deadlines as Early Decision I (applications due November 1 and decisions released Dec 15), but it is not binding. That means that if you are admitted, you do not have to attend. You can choose to attend another school you’ve been admitted to.
What is Single Choice Early Action (Restricted Early Action)?
This application type is relatively rare. You will most likely not encounter it unless you are applying to some of the most competitive schools in the country. This includes Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Stanford.
This application type has the same deadlines as early decision I and early action. It is non-binding. If you are admitted, you do not have to attend – you can choose if you’d like to or not.
However, it restricts the schools you can apply to early. Under this program, you cannot apply early to any other private institutions. This means that if you apply to Harvard Single Choice Early Action, you cannot apply Early Decision I or Early Action to any other private schools. You can, however, apply Early Action to other public schools.
This is perhaps the most complicated application type. Most students will never encounter it, as only a minority will be applying to these institutions. If you are one of those students, it is important that you clearly understand the rules surrounding it.
What is Regular Decision?
Regular decision is, predictably, the “normal” application. It is due, usually, on January 1 and decisions are released sometime between March-April. Regular decision applications are non-binding.
What are Rolling Admissions?
Rolling admissions means that a university is accepting applications and reviewing them, in the order they are received, within a certain date range. For example, a university may say their rolling admissions are open from October 1st – March 1st. You can submit an application at any time within this range and expect to hear a decision a few weeks after submitting your application. This is a “first come, first serve” system.
The Strategy
We’ve thrown a lot of information at you. How do you now take this and make decisions? Step by step.
First, Identify which of your schools offer any kind of early application. Early application pools usually have higher admissions rates than regular decision pools. You want to send as many early applications as possible, but this may be limited by how you apply to certain schools.
Next, decide on your top choice option within your list of schools you’re applying to (it’s important to make sure that this list is reasonable and you have a chance of getting in to the schools – otherwise you’re just wasting your time). Does this school have an early option? If so, take it!
Let’s say your top choice offered early decision I. If you apply early decision here, you cannot apply early decision anywhere else. You also cannot apply Single Choice Early Action anywhere else. That means that, in the early pools, you can only apply Early Action to other schools. So see which other schools on your list offer early action and send all of those.
All other schools will be sent regular decision.
In the case that you are not admitted Early Decision I, some of your schools may offer Early Decision II. It’s good to keep this in mind and know what your second choice option is, so that you can send that Early Decision II application as soon as you are rejected from your Early Decision I school.
If your top choice school offers Single Choice/Restricted Early Action, you can only apply early action to public universities. So see which schools on your list are public. If they offer early action, send those. Everything else will be pushed to regular decision.
If you are not applying Early Decision or Single Choice/Restricted Early Action anywhere, send every application you can Early Action, and the rest regular decision.
No matter which of these strategies you are following, if you have a school that offers rolling admissions on your list, simply apply to it as early as you can – it won’t affect the other schools.
Clearly, you can see that there are many complexities and nuances in deciding your college strategy. We didn’t cover every possible scenario here, but hopefully this overview will cover some of the most common situations.
For help building your college list, deciding how to apply to each school, or figuring out any other part of the college admissions process, reach out to us at info@AmericanCollegeCounselors.com.
All the best,
American College Counselors
P.S. We offer a number of free resources to guide students through the writing process. Check out a few of our popular blog posts: