<p>Hello, </p>
<p>I've been considering applying to Wellesley Early Action next year (I'm currently a junior). I was talking to my parents about it, though, and something came up. My mom's under the impression that the purpose of EA at Wellesley is so that students can compare financial aid offers, and that it's basically expected that the accepted EA student will very probably matriculate. </p>
<p>Any input? Is the whole thing basically contingent on financial aid? I'm confused.</p>
<p>Early Action is non-binding on the student; it is not expected that the student will necessarily enroll. Your final may be contingent on financial aid, or getting into a school you like better, or the phases of the moon. You don't ever have to tell them why you're not enrolling.</p>
<p>Your parents are thinking of Early Decision, in which a student agrees to attend the school if admitted, assuming that the financial aid is sufficient to meet the student's financial need as the college determines that need.</p>
<p>Wellesley has three different admissions plans: Early Decision, which is binding as defined above; Early Evaluation, which is similar to Early Action and is not binding (but you hear of the decision in February rather than in December as in other schools' Early Action programs), and Regular Decision, which is also not binding.</p>
<p>Be very careful about which option you choose!</p>
<p>Chedva is correct. Wellesley's Early Decision plan is binding, but the Early Evaluation program is non-binding. Make sure you know what you want to do and check the deadlines, too. My D applied the non-binding Early Evaluation, and was given a "likely" letter at the end of February when the decisions were released online (the other outcomes are "unlikely" and "possible"). She recieved her official acceptance letter at the end of March and will be attending Wellesley this fall. EE applicants have to be ready to send their mid-year report containing 1st semester grades to Wellesley a couple of weeks before the evaluation deadline (early February). There was a whole thread about the meaning of the three outcomes of Wellesley's EE, you might want to look for it.</p>