<p>Some of the schools my D is interested in have EA, some don't. Some have "rolling admissions." Is rolling admission the same as EA in that you can submit your application early on in your senior year oh HS. I don't understand the difference. Help please.</p>
<p>Early action means that there is a deadline for submitting the application, and applications are not reviewed until that date. So it doesn't matter if you apply at the end of September or November 14 (if the deadline is Nov. 15). Then the EA applicants are notified of the decisions at the same time (or within a week or two).</p>
<p>Rolling admissions means that the sooner you send in your application, the sooner you hear back. They begin reviewing your application as soon as it's complete. In that case, applying in September gives you an advantage: there are more open seats, and you may hear back by the end of October. If you don't apply until November 14, the school may have already issued a number of acceptances, so you're competing for fewer spots.</p>
<p>Rolling admissions means that there are no deadlines - they keep accepting applications until all their spots fill.</p>
<p>Some schools with EA and only RD/ED have a modified rolling admissions. I remember my son applied to a school EA, and heard back sooner b/c they have a modified rolling admissions (not really sure what it really means), but he heard back sooner than expected. Did not mean to make things more confusing, but it seems to exist.</p>
<p>It's usually to your benefit to apply early, if offered the opportunity- whether EA or Rolling. In many cases, scholarships are decided earlier rather than later. Go to the college websites. Find out the deadlines for the foundation scholarships, or fellowships, or whatever. Usually they are ahead of the "drop dead" dates for applications.</p>
<p>Also, in rolling admissions, the early bird gets the worm. In my son's <em>time</em>, our hs college counselors sent out the applications to rolling admissions schools for more marginal students AHEAD of the stronger students. They seemed to feel that it gave a little bump to get it in early.</p>
<p>If you have a first choice, and you want to communicate that to the school (and who wouldn't?), send the application in EA or in the case of rolling admissions, as early as possible.</p>
<p>Just one note: A few schools have what is called single choice EA. Under SCEA, you can not apply early to any other school, both EA and ED. You can, however, apply to a rolling admissions school early in the year even if you are applying SCEA.</p>
<p>Modified rolling admissions usually means that the school reads applications received by a certain deadline at the same time, instead of as they come in.</p>
<p>Heard from someone who claims to know everything: Don't apply too early to a rolling admissions school because they might be waiting for a better applicant. This sounds silly to me. Agreed? My S is going to apply right away to his RA schools.</p>
<p>geezermom, my son applied to 2 rolling schools, and he was admitted once all documents were received. The first school took 10 days! The other school took a bit longer b/c they missplaced son's transcript. I found this out quickly, b/c I called them to ask if they received all info! His hs was able to call admissions, and then directly fax son's transcript. He was accepted soon after that process. Nobody waited at those 2 schools to screen other apps first. My son was a solid, but not stellar hs student.</p>
<p>geezermom, I've never heard of that. The year my oldest applied to a rolling school, his hs sent out the weaker transcripts earlier- in July. They all were accepted. I knew of another student who did not apply to the same school until later in the fall, and he was rejected; his transcript was actually a little stronger than the ones who were sent in the summer. </p>
<p>This is just one example though- I'd ask someone at the school. Most colleges will tell you what they're looking for in a candidate and whether or not you should apply early/ED/EA, etc. For example, Notre Dame recommended that if you are NOT a strong candidate, do not apply early.</p>
<p>Our experience agrees with those above, there was no waiting on the rolling-admission schools. And let me tell you, for a student like my younger son, who had me scratching my head last year about whether he'd even be going off to college this fall, having an admisison in-hand to a very good school before the end of September made a <em>major</em> difference in his attitude about pretty much everything for his senior year. I recommend going ahead and submitting to rolling-admissions schools as soon as they start accepting applications.</p>
<p>Typically Early Action will notify by a specific date whereas rolling admission is not date specific. Students must read the "rules" on each of the colleges with early action as there are some colleges with specific policies.</p>