Types of Admission Plans

What are they and what do they mean to me?

You will find that there is no “one rule fits all” when it comes to answering this question. About the best that can be said is to apply as early as possible in your senior year to be safe. There are however, some guidelines that you can use as you prepare to write and submit your college applications.

Before you begin, be sure to read all the information provided by the college or university admissions office. They will give you deadlines as well as recommendations for when to apply. They may for example, tell you that their deadline is March 1 of your senior year but that they also begin reviewing applications as soon as they arrive in their office, perhaps as early as October of your senior year. This is called Rolling Admission and has a more complete discussion later. In situations like this, be careful with dates because by March 1 they may have already accepted all of the students they will be admitting for the following September. A good general recommendation is to file all of your college applications by November of your senior year. As noted earlier, discuss this with your school counselor or college advisor to learn the procedures your school uses and its deadlines.

Early Decision and Early Action plans may cause students some concern so it is critical that you read all the materials published by all of the colleges you are considering. Deadlines for early applications typically begin on November 1 of the senior year of high school and can extend for several months or more, depending on the college or university. The information that follows uses terminology and definitions used by NACAC, the National Association for College Admission Counseling, the professional organization for college admission offices, counselors, and college advisors. NACAC categorizes all applications as either Restrictive or Non-Restrictive. Within each there are various choices for you to consider. Please note that some colleges will use the terms Single Choice Early Action or Non-Single Choice Early Action. The information below is designed to give you an introduction to these plans but students should always read and understand each college's unique definition of these programs.

Non-Restrictive Plans

Regular Decision, Rolling Admission, Not Restrictive or Not Single Choice Early Action

Regular Decision is the traditional admission plan. Under this plan, students apply to college before the college's stated deadline date with all of the supporting documents. For clarity, this includes the student application, application fee if required, high school transcript, official test scores, and recommendations if required. Other materials may also be required or recommended. Students will be notified, usually between mid-March and early April of the senior year, if they have been admitted. Deposits are required by May 1 of the senior year, a date known as the Candidates Reply Date. Under this plan, students are free to apply to as many colleges as they wish. Your admission letter from each college may contain deadline dates and other information that may be important to you so be sure to read it carefully.

Rolling Admission is the next type of admission plan that is non-restrictive. Under Rolling Admission plans, students submit their college application to the college and the college reviews the application as soon as all the required documents are received in the admissions office. Typically, students are notified of their admission status within 4-6 weeks of the receipt of all materials. As in regular decision plans, students may apply to other colleges. The Candidates Reply Date of May 1 remains the date for deposits to be sent to the college you will attend. There may however, be a college that will ask for a deposit for some reason before May 1. Colleges may have limited dormitory space for example and students who don't deposit before May 1 may have limited living accommodations. If this happens, please discuss this situation with your counselor and the admissions office before submitting a deposit to be sure that your interests are protected.

Non-Restrictive Early Action plans are those in which students submit their applications and supporting materials early in the senior year, using the college's deadline date, and are notified if they have been admitted well in advance of the college's usual notification date. Under non-restrictive early action plans, students may apply to other colleges and are not obligated to accept the college's offer of admission, nor are they required to submit a deposit to the college before May 1 of the senior year. In some cases, students are also free to apply to other Early Action plans but may not apply under a binding plan such as Early Decision.

Restrictive Plans

Early Decision and Restrictive or Single Choice Early Action

Under Early Decision, a student is making a commitment to the specific college that is the student's clear first choice and where they will enroll, if admitted. Under Early Decision, students may apply to other colleges but may not apply under Early Decision at any other college while they have a pending Early Decision application. Colleges in turn, agree to notify students of their admission decision within a short period of time after the Early Decision deadline. Since students are making a commitment under this plan, they agree to withdraw all applications to other colleges if they are admitted under the Early Decision plan. There are a few circumstances that allow students to apply to state colleges or universities under early plans and students are advised to review these statements from each college before submitting any binding early application. You should also know that high schools are prohibited from sending transcripts to other colleges once a student has been admitted under an Early Decision plan. If students have applied for financial aid, they will be notified of their financial aid offer at, or soon after the time they are notified by the admissions office that they have been admitted. Should a student not be offered sufficient financial aid, the student may turn down the offer of admission and be released from their commitment and the high school may continue to send school records on your behalf.

Restrictive or Single Choice Early Action plans are similar to Early Decision plans in that students may apply to only one school under this plan but they are not obligated to attend the college if admitted nor are they asked to submit a deposit prior to May 1 of the senior year. These are called restrictive plans because students may not apply under early plans to other colleges.

If you are applying under an early plan, be sure that you protect your long-term interests. Other college applications should be ready in case you are not admitted. If they are completed and you do need them, you will be ready to submit them immediately. Keep in mind that if you are not admitted, you will not be in the best frame of mind to work on college applications and write essays. Get this done in advance. If you are admitted and will be attending that college or university, you can enjoy shredding or burning the extra applications. Always remember that colleges have deadlines so you may have to send some applications before you hear from the Early Decision or Early Action colleges.

Now that you have read about the different kinds of early plans, let’s review deadlines. Some college deadlines may be November 1, November 15, December 1 or December 15 of your senior year. A few colleges may have later deadlines as well. Some colleges also offer a Second Round Early Decision plan that has deadlines later in the senior year. They can run typically from December 15 to January 31. This allows students who didn’t feel a commitment to any one school earlier in the senior year to have a second opportunity to determine that one college is clearly a first choice. Second round Early Decision plans may also appeal to some students who were denied admission under an Early Decision plan at one college and are now free to apply to their second choice college.

So, who should apply Early? The common thought is that everyone should and that it gives students a positive “edge” in the process. Although early applications have become more popular, you should be careful when you consider this option. You should have been involved in a thorough college search where you have examined what you need to be a happy and successful college student. If you have done an in-depth personal assessment and have done the same with colleges, an early application may be the way for you to proceed. Early plans should not be used as a tactic in college admission to gain an edge but rather, should be used when you as the student, are absolutely certain that you want to attend a particular college or university.

At some colleges however, an early application, particularly Early Decision, can be an advantage. For example, if a college admits a large number of its incoming class via an Early Decision plan, it may be an advantage to apply under such a plan. Finally, it is important to recognize that a lot may change during your senior year of high school. What you thought you wanted in September of your senior year may not be what you want in April. If however, after an intense and complete search coupled with sound personal reflection, you have found the right school for you; don’t be afraid to apply early.

The major advantage to an early application is that you will know sooner in the senior year that your first choice college has admitted you and that may result in a lower stress level for you for the rest of your senior year. There are at least two major disadvantages to applying under a binding Early Decision plan. First, you will not be able to make a comparison of financial aid offers from different colleges. If financial aid is an important part of attending college, you may want to be able to compare financial aid offers, especially if the school that admits you under a binding early plan does not meet full financial need. Second, as noted earlier, many students change their minds about what they want in a college for any one of a number of reasons. A binding plan doesn’t allow the option for selecting another college since it will likely be too late to send out other applications in March or April of your senior year. The chart below summarizes some of the major points that you should know and consider carefully before committing to an early application.

Review: Be sure that you read each college's catalog for complete information on their admission procedures. Colleges can and often do, have different definitions for the same or similar terms. Never allow yourself to be caught in a bind because you didn't read carefully and thoroughly. Finally, always discuss this with your parents and your school counselor or college advisor.

 

Questions	Early Decision	Early Action, Single Choice or Restrictive	Early Action NOT Single Choice or NOT Restrictive
Why apply early anywhere?	Early senior year notification	Early senior year notification	Early senior year notification
* Can I apply early elsewhere?	No	No	Yes
When do I have to deposit if admitted?	Soon after Admitted	May 1-information in letter of admission	May 1-information in letter of admission
May I apply under regular admission	Yes	Yes	Yes

* Read each college's statement on early applications for possible individual variations