Early Action vs. Early Decision

Applying to College
1

<p>Five out of my nine to ten schools offer early action. Of those five, three of them are reaches (Georgetown, UMich, Notre Dame), one is a match (BC) and the other is a safety (USD).</p>

<p>My transcript is quite good. Although I only have a 3.65 UW and 4.2 W GPA, my GPA has risen with each year. Now, I was just diagnosed with ADHD-I and have begun adderall. I can already feel the tremendous effects, and am optimistic for the upcoming school year. </p>

<p>I was planning to apply early action to all these schools, but I'm not sure if I should anymore. Does the benefit of applying RD with great 1st semester grades really outweigh the risk of performing poorly? Will my app really look that much better if I perform at an even higher level my senior year?</p>

<p>Thanks for your feedback.</p>

2

<p>Something to consider: if you weren’t accepted EA, would these schools defer you to RD anyway? I think most schools do that with the majority of qualified EA applicants. If they do, then I don’t see a reason not to apply EA. Good luck!</p>

3

<p>"if you weren’t accepted EA, would these schools defer you to RD anyway? "</p>

<p>No, schools also will outright reject many applicants whom they deem won’t be competitive in the RD round.</p>

<p>This isn’t a bad thing: one of the purposes of EA is to learn your fate early.</p>

4

<p>Oops, sorry, my mistake. Though I agree about knowing early being a good thing.</p>

5

<p>By the way, I made a brain fart… title of this thread should read “Early Action vs. Regular Decision”</p>

<p>I’m just wondering if anyone thinks that one semester if grades would help so much that I should apply RD.</p>

6

<p>“Does the benefit of applying RD with great 1st semester grades really outweigh the risk of performing poorly?”</p>

<p>The most stats driven school on your list is UMich; unfortunatly, though, applying there RD (for anyone) is almost the kiss of death; heck, even EA if it’s late isn’t great (and by late I’m thinkin late Oct/early Nov…)…so UMich is a def EA</p>

<p>Not too much knowledge about the others’ practices, but I would imagine many spots will be grabbed up in the EA pool leaving fewer spots for RD…</p>

<p>In reality, I don’t think the increase in your GPA for 1 semester will really affect your GPA all that much…if you really want to show them your senior grades, send them your first quarter as soon as you get them (or even a progress report if your school doesn’t do quarterly grades)…</p>

<p>for example: 3.65 X 6 semesters=21.9 Assuming you get straight A’s next semester. 4.0 X1 semester= 4.0</p>

<p>21.9+4.0= 25.9 divided by 7 semesters=3.7</p>

<p>Not really gonna have THAT much impact for admissions…</p>