<p>I'm currently a junior in hs and I will be the first in my family to attend a college/university in the US, so I am pretty much oblivious to how the college admission process works. I'm sure that most, if not all of these will sound stupid and only require a bit of researching and common sense, but if you could help me out by answering any of these questions, I'd really appreciate it!
1. what is the difference between early action and early decision?
2. what is rolling admissions?
3. if you were to send your SAT/ACT scores to colleges when you register for the test online (like the four schools you can send SAT scores to for which the fee is already covered), but you end up not applying to the college..what then? do the colleges only look at your scores when/if you apply?
4. what is the typical deadline for college apps to be sent in? or does it vary greatly between schools?
5. when a college asks that you apply online, does that necessarily mean that your counselor/teacher recs have to be sent online as well?</p>
<p>These are all I can think of at the moment.. I'll probably be adding some to the thread when I can remember the rest. Again, thanks so much!!</p>
<p>Answers to
2. Rolling admissions means that you don't have a set date to get an acceptance/rejection back. You get one when they decide and feel like sending it.
4.Depends on the school but I reccommend you apply early because it gives you dibs on scholarships offered.
5. Just because you apply online doesn't mean you can't mail in your teacher Rec's Most of the time that's how they are sent. Sometimes they give you the option to send it through email.</p>
<ol>
<li>Early action is non-binding whereas early decision is the opposite. Early action schools notify you that you have a place in their freshmen class but you can opt to not enroll whereas an early decision acceptance requires you to withdraw your other applications to other schools so you can attend the early decision school you got into.</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li><p>Redenbacher has it right.</p></li>
<li><p>Instead of having a set date where all apps are due, rolling schools fill up on a more "first come-first served" basis. Often times they read the apps in groups of a few weeks, not every single one in the order it comes in. And the better rolling school generally won't admit any more much later than normal schools, but if you send in your app early, you have a better chance of getting in, and you find out sooner.</p></li>
<li><p>You've wasted either your money, or one of your free sends, but nothing more than that. They'll just throw it away, after their deadline has passed.</p></li>
<li><p>It doesn't vary <em>too</em> widely. The earliest you can send them in is generally early fall. The deadlines for EA/ED generally fall on November 1 or 15. Regular apps are generally due around January 1, though some are due Dec 15, some January 15, and some even later. You will have to check each school, but there's a general range.</p></li>
<li><p>Generally, no. I believe most teacher recs are done by hand. Counselor, I'm not sure.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>
[quote]
1. what is the difference between early action and early decision?
2. what is rolling admissions?
3. if you were to send your SAT/ACT scores to colleges when you register for the test online (like the four schools you can send SAT scores to for which the fee is already covered), but you end up not applying to the college..what then? do the colleges only look at your scores when/if you apply?
4. what is the typical deadline for college apps to be sent in? or does it vary greatly between schools?
5. when a college asks that you apply online, does that necessarily mean that your counselor/teacher recs have to be sent online as well?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>1.</p>
<p>Early action means, "apply by Date X, we'll tell you by Date Y, and you have no obligation to enroll."</p>
<p>Date X is typically several months before January. The early action schools I applied to had dates in October and November.</p>
<p>Schools that have early action options generally do not mind your applying via early action to other schools that also have it. The exception would be schools that use single-choice early action. The definition is same except that you agree not to apply through early action / decision to any other school.</p>
<p>Early decision means, "apply by Date X, we'll tell you by Date Y, and you agree that if we accept you by Date Y, you will come."</p>
<p>It is similar to single-choice early action in that you must sign an agreement stating that you will not apply via early decision to any other school.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Rolling admissions means, "apply by date X, we'll tell you as soon as possible, and you have no obligation to enroll." Again, date X is typically several months before January.</p></li>
<li><p>When they receive your scores, universities create a file with your information. If you send a score to a school and end up not applying, nothing happens. I sent my scores to several schools that I ended up not applying to. It's fairly normal.</p></li>
<li><p>For early action, the deadlines are mostly in October and November. For regular decision, the deadlines are mostly January and February.</p></li>
<li><p>No. You may still send in your recommendations through the USPS. I know this because I was forced to do this. Apparently, my school system blocks certain university e-mail addresses, so my teachers never received the online links in their mailboxes.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>you don't have to, if you have a desire to attend a certain college, write it down on your SAT scantron, if you don't have a college in mind, don't fret, you can always send in your scores later on after you've taken your SAT's. I'm not too sure about ACT's though.</p>
<p>How do SAT scores get sent to colleges? Do I just pick the four colleges I'm applying to and pick those on the SAT form on the LAST SAT I take and ALL my SAT scores get sent there?And then additional scores include ALL SAts right? Cause freshman year, I didn't know, and I sent my score to 2 schools....and well, I dont' know what happened to those. So, if I"m taking my last ones in October, the four schools I choose will receive ALL my SAt scores? Thanks!!</p>
<p>yea, pretty much. most recent score report gets sent (i.e. all scores)</p>
<p>the schools you choose will receive all of your scores, including the ones from freshman year. and if you're still applying to the first 2 schools, you should send them the updated score report.</p>