Early Decision and Early Action: Use Both! Here’s Why...
Applying for college, albeit an exciting time in your school life, is no doubt stress-inducing. Forward-thinking high schoolers—seniors especially, and even some juniors—should already have their eyes on several colleges. You might already have zeroed in on a first choice that is not just at front-of-mind, but a borderline obsession, monopolizing your thoughts in recent months. A goal is set, and a plan enacted. The school of the heart’s desire offers Early Decision (ED), so this becomes your laser-focused target if it's affordable and you’re positive you’d go there no matter what. How ideal it would be to have this all wrapped up with a neat little bow come mid-December ─ rather than wait for the spring when most college admission decisions are released! Meanwhile, applications to other potential colleges either play second fiddle or worse yet, aren’t even part of your landscape. What you’ve just read is not ideal.
“Don’t put all your eggs in one basket” especially holds true when you apply to colleges. Because if all your efforts fill only the “dream school basket,” and you’re subsequently rejected or wait-listed, that basket will have lost its initial purpose. So, a more savvy and strategic college-bound senior like you should also put a few more eggs in the Early Action (EA) basket ─ not after the fact, but at the very same time as that you submit that Early Decision application.
A quick recap on the distinction between the two: Early Decision and Early Action.
IMPORTANT: Students in the ED and EA pools of applicants typically enjoy a better potential for admission than do applicants in the Regular Decision (RD) application pool. (See the graphs at the end of the blog comparing ED, EA, and RD.)
Early Decision plans are binding: if accepted, you must attend that college. (Yes, there are some rare exceptions, but that’s for another blog.) And that also means you cannot apply to more than one college Early Decision. (One exception: you can apply to both Emory and Oxford of Emory Early Decision.) Note: If your ED application is denied, you cannot re-apply to that college later in the application season.
Early Action plans are non-binding: if you’re accepted, you don’t have to commit to the college until the National College Decision Day of May 1.
According to College Board, approximately 450 colleges have Early Decision or Early Action plans, and some have both. Some colleges offer a non-binding option called Single-Choice Early Action (aka Restrictive Early Action), under which there are restrictions about applying ED or EA to other colleges (see attached).
Let’s look at the benefits of applying Early Action concurrently with Early Decision:
This strategy increases the likelihood of starting to hear good news by Christmas. True, some Early Action (EA) colleges may not release decisions until January, but most EA colleges send decisions in December, the same or similar timeframe as Early Decision. And EA gives you a leg up on hearing sooner than you would from Regular Decision colleges.
Applying Early Action gives you a leg up on getting into some top choices. This is because most colleges’ Regular Decision plans have a significantly lower acceptance rate than do their Early Action plans. Even if it’s not a dream school, any institution on your EA list remains very much on the radar; otherwise, why apply there in the first place?
Early Action is non-binding. Even if you are delighted to have been accepted EA into a second or third-choice school, you’re not locked in. That leaves the option of attending elsewhere should a later acceptance arrive. Let’s face it, people do have the proclivity to change their minds, and it’s awfully nice to have the freedom to choose among options. Plus, how great is it to have a backup in the event that you get a disappointing letter in response to an Early Decision application?
Applying to Early Action and Early Decision simultaneously may lead to the greatest Winter Break ever! Sure, you will have to crank up the volume for a while and get EA applications submitted along with an ED application before the first ED or EA date, likely October 15 or November 1. But the potential payoff is huge. Imagine entering the Holiday Season having made good headway on college applications. That’s sure to bring some added seasonal joy. True, some institutions don’t offer EA or ED, so those applications will still be on the later “to do list.” Also true is that all ED schools have a policy that prohibits applying to another ED college. And yes, there are still those regular decision applications to complete. But hey, you’ll be off to a running start by getting as many EA applications submitted as possible ─ and perhaps an ED application if there’s a clear top choice college ─ before the turkey is stuffed, stockings are hung, and candles are lit. You, the collegiate-to-be, can now rejoice in the fact that testing is over, the college application process is close to over, and for the next few weeks, there’s nothing to do but enjoy the holidays with friends and family ─ and finish the few remaining Regular Decision applications.
EA offers extra time to make up your mind. Since even Early Action acceptance rates are typically higher than regular decision, there’s a better chance that several college options will lie before you. So, with a few wins already under the belt, you won’t be in any rush, or scrambling. Rather, you will have the luxury of taking time to make the all-important decision of where to spend the next four years. And more time to visualize from which institution a proudly displayed bumper sticker and diploma will come.
Ideally, you want options, and sooner rather than later. Applying Early Action ─ perhaps in conjunction with Early Decision (if you have a clear first choice that’s affordable) ─ is for good reason the best plan of attack. The chance of acceptance is higher, and the pressure is off sooner, so the holidays and second half of senior year are primed to be as carefree and enjoyable as possible! The takeaway: you are highly encouraged to apply Early Action to all colleges that offer a non-restrictive Early Action plan ─ and Early Decision (if financially able) only to “the one,” that one-and-only college that has you swooning.
P.S. Adding a little more confusion to this overwhelming process is the fact that several colleges offer a second round of ED and EA plans with deadlines typically in January. So if you have TWO top-choice colleges and are denied ED from one of them, you can apply ED2 to your other top-choice college. In a similar vein, if a new college suddenly popped up on your radar and offered EA2, you would have an advantage similar to applying EA during the first round.
Yes, the various admission paths can be confusing, but we’re here to help you use them to your advantage. Just contact us and one of our experienced educational consultants will help you!
