Early Decision

A lot of students choose to apply early decision for their “dream” school that they prioritize over all else.

“If you are absolutely sure that you want to go to a particular college, apply early decision [for that college],” career center specialist Laura Venos said.

Many of the early decision applications are due on Nov. 1, but it could vary among colleges.

“I decided to do early decision for my first choice school because it had relatively higher acceptance rate,” senior Minjoo Park said.

Likewise, some colleges differ in their admission standards between early and regular decisions. That is not always the case so students need to search about the colleges they are applying to before making decisions.

Therefore, it is highly important that you check the deadline and specific details of the schools you are applying to.

Early Action

“I wanted to free myself from all the college applications as soon as possible, so I chose to apply for early action,” senior Xiang Mia Yi said.

One of the advantages that early action include is that it is non-binding unlike early decision. Students can choose not to go there even though they get accepted.

“Another good thing about early applications is that if you get deferred, you will be able to send more test scores or score reports and hopefully hear back from the college around spring, There is also rolling admission in which you hear back from the colleges 3-4 weeks after you apply for them,” school counselor Patricia McNeill said.

Normally, students who have shown consistently rising trends in their grades are considered ready to apply early.

Regular Decision

“Regular decision gives me the time I need to work on my essay as well as SAT scores for college,” senior Katie Clemente said.

Some people need more time to prepare for college application and improve their standardized test scores. These students prefer to turn in their college application for regular decision which happens few months after the early admissions.

“It is probably better for students who are still in their developing stage [in terms of grades or transcripts] to wait until regular decision,” school counselor Gregory Olcott said.

No matter the application status, students cannot slack on their grades. It is possible that colleges will reconsider their decision if they see a downward trend.

“Students should do their best until the year is over,” Olcott said.