Early Notification (EN)

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Rochester
1

<p>Hi everyone! I hope I can clarify the Early Notification application process, as it is a brand new way to apply to the University of Rochester this year. Please feel free to ask questions, and I'll do my best to answer them as quickly as possible. (I'm on the road traveling and recruiting, so my internet access will be sporadic.)</p>

<p>First and foremost, there are 3 ways to apply to the University of Rochester: Early Decision, Early Notification, and Regular Decision. The application deadlines for each category are November 1st, December 1st, and January 1st, respectively. </p>

<p>From our website... "Early Notification is not binding. By applying through EN, you identified yourself as being serious about your academic career and well matched for Rochester's admitted student profile. As an EN applicant, you will receive your admissions decision earlier than regular decision applicants, therefore you must submit your entire application by December 1. If you are applying to a Dual Degree program or one of Rochester's Combined-Admission Programs, Early Notification is an especially good choice to make."</p>

<p>To see the statistics for the average admitted University of Rochester student, please click the following link.
University</a> of Rochester : Fast Facts </p>

<p>If your grades and test scores are above these averages, you will be competitive for our larger merit scholarships if you apply EN! Please understand, no student is guaranteed a merit scholarship at the U of R. Our merit scholarship recommendation is based on a holistic review of your application.</p>

<p>Instead of waiting until April 1st to hear a decision, Early Notification applicants will be notified by the end of February, which should give you ample time to plan a visit to our campus if you are admitted. We have multiple "Spring Open Campus" events for admitted students from the end of March through the end of April.</p>

<p>As a final point, all Early Notification applicants are still technically "Regular Decision applicants". The only difference is that you are sending in all application materials by December 1st instead of January 1st. </p>

<p>Best,</p>

<p>TSocash</p>

2

<p>I recommend EN. </p>

<p>Get your apps done. Be real in your essays. UR really does care about what you say.</p>

<p>And in general, to lessen stress, I recommend applying to some schools that admit quickly. You then are in somewhere before 4/1.</p>

3

<p>So you’re saying this would be a good choice for someone who identifies UofR as a “safety” school because it would give them a better chance to earn scholarships?</p>

4

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<p>Does Rochester still have a guaranteed scholarship amount for national merit finalists? It was $17,000 last year, right?</p>

5

<p>Would SAT results have to be in for Dec 1st?</p>

6

<p>PinotNoir,</p>

<p>You are correct! Last year, if you were a National Merit Finalist who selected the University of Rochester as your “top choice” school, then you received a $17,000 scholarship (renewable all 4 years!). We anticipate that this will remain the same, and I will alert the College Confidential community if this changes.</p>

<p>stayposi, we will be lenient on the arrival date of additional SAT / ACT results, but as a best practice, you really want to abide by the deadlines. If we do not receive all application materials by December 1st, then there is no guarantee that we can consider you as an “Early Notification” applicant. We would at least like to see one official SAT / ACT score by December 1st. If you are taking the exam again this fall, but we don’t receive these results until mid-December, that’s fine.</p>

7

<p>Thanks TSocash. Another question - the website recommends 2 AP scores. Does that mean self reporting them on the common app or having college board go ahead and send AP scores?</p>

8

<p>SAT II’s and AP scores are not required by the University of Rochester. However, if you took them and you did well, please send them our way! The only way we will consider these scores is if they are sent “officially”. This means that they need to either be on your high school transcript or sent to us via the College Board. </p>

<p>It is always nice to see your scores on the Common Application, but please make sure that we receive your official score results as well!</p>

9

<p>TSocash,
How differently are ED and EN viewed by admissions, and whats the difference between them (besides one of them is binding, and one of them you get a response quicker)?
Thanks.</p>

10

<p>Just a quick question! On the common app, if we want to apply for early notification, do we select the “Early Decision II” plan?</p>

11

<p>jessnic,</p>

<p>Be careful! All Early Notification applicants are still Regular Decision applicants! (Please see my original post, near the end.) Select “Regular Decision” on the Common Application and submit all application materials by December 1st if you want to be considered for Early Notification.</p>

<p>Early Decision, and ED II, are binding decisions, requiring you to withdraw all other applications if you are admitted to your Early Decision school. Early Notification is not binding.</p>

<p>Supernaut,</p>

<p>This is the first year that the University of Rochester has offered the “Early Notification” option, but I still hope to answer your question…</p>

<p>Early Decision should be utilized when you are absolutely positive that school X is you number 1 choice. Hopefully you’ve visited the campus, they have the program(s) you’re looking for, and you got that “gut feeling” while you were there. The Admissions staff at the University of Rochester appreciates it when you proclaim your excitement for our school and apply Early Decision. We take that into account when making admissions decisions, which is why we tend to be a bit more lenient when evaluating high school transcripts, test scores, etc. during the Early Decision application process. Please keep in mind that all Early Decision applicants will be considered for merit scholarships. Having an interview is also a great way to improve you chances to receive a merit scholarship. </p>

<p>Early Notification is described in my original post…</p>

<p>From our website… “Early Notification is not binding. By applying through EN, you identified yourself as being serious about your academic career and well matched for Rochester’s admitted student profile. As an EN applicant, you will receive your admissions decision earlier than regular decision applicants, therefore you must submit your entire application by December 1. If you are applying to a Dual Degree program or one of Rochester’s Combined-Admission Programs, Early Notification is an especially good choice to make.”</p>

<p>If you have a lot of other college options, and you aren’t 100% committed to applying Early Decision, then perhaps Early Notification is for you!</p>

12

<p>Thank you so much! That was very helpful. :)</p>

13

<p>TSocash:</p>

<p>Thank you for your thoughtful and informative posts, they have been very helpful.</p>

<p>With regards to the new Early Notification option, would it be possible for a student to submit an EN application and then contact the admissions office in late December to possibly change it to ED II, or does an application need to be marked as ED II from the start in order to be considered as such?</p>

14

<p>horgars: I’m happy to help! </p>

<p>In the past we have had students call and explain why they would like to switch from Regular Decision to Early Decision after the November 1st deadline. These students then become “ED II” applicants, and the decision is binding. However, we cannot guarantee when ED II’s can expect to receive a decision. </p>

<p>If you apply as an Early Notification applicant, your application may already have a decision by mid-December, so I would recommend that you call us earlier in December rather than later if you’re thinking about being considered for ED II.</p>

15

<p>Thanks for the response. Would an adcom consider it a valid reason to switch to ED II because rochester is the second choice school and ED 1 didn’t work out, or is that type of thinking frowned upon?</p>

16

<p>I just want to double check… If I apply to Yale Single Choice Early Action, early notification does not breech my agreement with them?</p>

17

<p>Yes, it seems as though it would violate Yale’s SCEA agreement.</p>

<p>According to Yale’s website:

</p>

<p>Rochester’s EN program is non-binding, but it is not “rolling admissions.” And Rochester is not a public institution; it’s a private university.</p>

18

<p>Hi TSocash,</p>

<p>I’m a little confused by this part of your response in Post #14:</p>

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</p>

<p>If you’re not rolling admissions, when you say “your application may already have a decision by mid-December” you’re saying the decision may have been made internally, but not released to the applicant, is that correct? In other words, notification to all EN applicants happens by the end of February but not before, regardless of when the decision was made at UofR?</p>

<p>Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions here.</p>

19

<p>Correct! </p>

<p>Any student who applies by December 1st as an early notification applicant will receive an admissions decision by the end of February but not before. (Unless we receive SO many applications that we have to push that notification date back a week.)</p>

<p>As an admissions counselor at the University of Rochester, I read applications continuously. Any given early notification application might have an admissions decision between December and early February, but we will not release those decisions until the end of February.</p>

20

<p>Thanks so much for the speedy clarification!</p>