What's the Difference Between Early Decision and Early Action?
We’ve posted information about the differences between Early Decision, Early Action, Restricted (or Single Choice) Early Action, Rolling Admission and Regular Decision in past articles, but if you aren’t quite sure of what these mean, this post is for you!
If you're a reader - read below! If you'd rather watch a short video with the info, click here.
Early Decision
- Binding contract.
- Student, school counselor and parents sign an agreement saying that if student is admitted, s/he WILL ATTEND that school.
- Must withdraw all other applications if admitted. This means you will never find out if you would have been admitted to UC X or Y Other College.
- Must place a deposit at school within a few weeks of being admitted.
- Counselor agreement says the counselor will ONLY send the student’s final transcript to that college if student is admitted.
- May only apply to ONE college ED.
- The ONLY acceptable reason for not honoring an ED commitment is if the college does not meet your DEM
Q&A With A College Admissions Expert
This interview was originally published on the
Varsity Tutors website.
Varsity Tutors brings you insider tips and advice straight from nationally recognized admissions experts. Evelyn Alexander provides college admissions counseling services to a number of students and their families through Magellan College Counseling. She is an alumnus of Johns Hopkins University where she also served as a volunteer admissions recruiter for 15 years.
VT: How far ahead of time should a student begin working on his or her college application?
Evelyn: College applications are generally available the summer before the student’s senior year. The Common Application, for example, should open in August for the Class of 2015. While I would advise students to start their applications as early as possible, I would also encourage them to start exploring colleges long before the summer before senior year. I start working with students at the beginning of junior year, digging into possible majors and car...more
- 1
