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Types of College Admission
Basically, there are 4 types of college admission. The MyCollegeCalendar guide highly recommends and uses an Early Action timeframe. Early Action applications usually are due November 15 of your senior year, but some selective universities have due dates of November 1 (and a few even have dates of October 15). Be sure to check with each college you're applying to for their specific deadlines.
1. Early Decision - This decision process can only be used by students who are committed to attending their first choice college or university. Students that accept college admission using the Early Decision process are legally bound to attend that college and are forbidden to apply to any other school. The advantage to using this decision process is colleges give you "bonus points" when considering you for admission and you are more likely to be accepted. The BIG DISADVANTAGE is that you are under contract to attend the college you accepted admission to even if they award you no financial aid. Early Decision applications usually are due November 1 of your senior year.
2. Early Action (or Early Application) - This type of admission normally has an application deadline of November 15, but you do not have to commit to attending any college until May 1. The HUGE ADVANTAGE to using an Early Action application is the amount of time you have to compare college characteristics and financial aid offers, as well as to talk things over with your parents, before choosing which college to attend (college selection deadline is May 1). This allows adequate time to “shop” for colleges by comparing financial aid awards, negotiating financial aid offers (if necessary), visiting campus on “accepted students’ weekend”, and asking teachers and college alumni for their opinion.
In addition, colleges give minor "bonus points" to
students using Early Action applications and, therefore,
you are more likely to be accepted. If you get rejected
by your top choice colleges and universities, you still will
have time to apply to other colleges and universities using
the Regular Decision process. The disadvantage to using Early
Action applications is that you will have a busy fall semester
because all application documents normally are due on or
before November 30.
3. Regular Decision (Regular Application) - Admission applications are due to most colleges and universities in January and February of your senior year.
4. Rolling Decision (or Rolling Admission) - There are no application deadlines; colleges will admit qualified students as their applications are received, anytime between September and May of the senior year. The advantage of Rolling Decision is you can apply anytime. The disadvantage is once colleges accept enough students, your application won't be considered because the applicant pool is already filled (so apply as early as possible to schools with rolling admission).
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