Early vs. Regular Action/Decision

Hi all,

I’m really curious about one difference between Early and Regular. (I’m just going to omit the words Action/Decision)
If your school is on trimester system (so 2 progress reports in Nov/Dec and March, followed by the final report in June), does it mean that when you apply for Early, only your grades up to and including grade 11 are considered while when you apply for Regular, your grade 12’s first trimester grades also go in the application?
I was assuming that since the deadline for Regular is Jan. 1 (for most schools), your grade 12 first trimester marks go in since they come out between November and December.
But since it’s only a progress report, does it still go in? Do college apps only take in final marks?

If they get the grades, you should assume they use them.

If I’m not mistaken schools still see your progress reports. My school was based a semester system but by the time ED apps were due only 1st quarter grades were sent, but the colleges still saw your most up to date grades

If you apply for EA and get deferred into the RA cycle, you still have to submit the mid year report with your grades updated to date right? If deferred applicants are considered the same way as other RA applicants, is it better to apply for EA? The only reason I won’t apply for EA is that my grade 11 grades weren’t so good and I do better every new school year so I need my first term grade 12 grades. I’m really not sure what to do, any advices will be helpful.

@equality4all May I ask what do you consider “bad” grades? Sometimes they may not be as bad as you think. I’ve seen some students be really hard on themselves here on CC when their grades really aren’t that bad. Some schools tend to scrutinize their EA candidates more closely.

@pkchamp89 Well first of all I don’t use GPA (I’m in Canada), and my percent average was in low 90s. I expect my overall average to increase in grade 12 since I can drop a course that was bringing my average down which was mandatory in grade 11. (I’m applying to ivies btw)