<p>I am going to apply to UGA, UA, UF, and TCU. I assumed I should apply early action, but now I'm realizing I don't really understand what one is better. Below are my stats:
ACT: 29 with a 36 reading
4.0 unweighted, 4.4 weighted
AP and DE classes
All DE classes for my upcoming senior year
Good volunteer and community service
Officer in DECA and member of NHS</p>
<p>Here is my other question. My 29 ACT was a first try with no studying and not much sleep. I am currently studying to take it again in Sept. and hopefully get at least a 30 and a superscore 31 (because UGA superscores). Can I fill out early action applications with my ACT of a 29 and once I get accepted and take it again resend my new, hopefully higher, score before the scholarship deadline of Dec. 1 and get the better scholarship? Someone please help me understand how this all works. My HS guidance counselor doesn't guide at all!</p>
<p>To my knowledge there isn’t usually a huge advantage applying EA or reg. (someone correct me if thats wrong!) But the advantage to applying as early as possible in general is that admissions isn’t sick of reading essays yet and you’ll find out sooner. I’m personally applying ED to one school and EA to the rest. But I think most people do EA for their first choices and reg. for ones that are less important. </p>
<p>But if you can be all done with applications by November, why wait!?</p>
<p>So everyone is saying slightly different things… I don’t have a favorite one. I’m pretty much going to the school that will make it most affordable to me. Any other advice? If I do EA do I still get to write an essay and talk about my EC’s?</p>
<p>DS applied EA to all of the schools on his list that had that option. I don’t know that it gave him any advantage (in fact, if I recall correctly, the schools said it wouldn’t), but it gave all of us peace of mind to have acceptances rolling in throughout the process - his first EA acceptance was in November and the last EA acceptance was in February. It also allowed him to get an early Honors College invitation to the school he ended up selecting, and it allowed him to get a couple early FA offers (which was more valuable for us than him as it gave us more time to absorb the sticker shock!). In his case, all of the application requirements (essay, listing of ECs, etc) were the same as regular app; he just needed to have everything completed and submitted sooner. </p>
<p>My understanding is that EA might not be the best idea <em>if</em> you need that extra bit of time to try raising your GPA before applying.</p>
<p>We have three more kids to go, and I will strongly advise them to apply EA to as many schools as possible/appropriate as well.</p>
<p>I briefly skimmed through this so excuse me if I answer with something redundant or already stated-</p>
<p>My understanding is that if you are an applicant in need of financial aid, it is a bad idea applying anywhere that has the binding process (early DECISION rather than action). The reason being is that if the school accepts you ED but does not offer you enough FA, you are in bad luck and there is nothing you can do about it except attend and be in debt. </p>
<p>However if you intend on applying early decision to let’s say an Ivy League or anywhere to guarantees 100% need met, then applying early is recommended because you’re likely to receive an generous amount of aid.</p>
<p>“The reason being is that if the school accepts you ED but does not offer you enough FA, you are in bad luck and there is nothing you can do about it except attend and be in debt.”</p>
<p>Curious about ED announcements however: do FinAid awards come with the December acceptances? If John Doe applies and is accepted ED but doesn’t get his award package until March, finds out that the aid package is too small — where can he apply since he’s dutifully withdrawn all his other apps? He’s severely limited, right?</p>
<p>While you can get out of an early decision admission if the financial aid offer is not sufficient, you then have no opportunity to compare the offers and ask other comparable colleges to “review” your financial aid to see if they can get the cost of attendance closer to a lower price. For my D2 we are getting $10,000 in need-based aid at her first choice school next year based on this strategy that was not offered at first from the school. You will never know what kind of deal you could get if you end up taking an ED offer.</p>
<p>As you do not seem to have a clear first choice school, I say you should skip ED. Apply early at everyplace on your list with rolling admissions or an Early Action option. Apply regular decision at the rest.</p>
<p>You should not have to withdraw your applications at other schools until you have seen at least the preliminary financial aid package from the ED college. Even if the school gives you a deadline, notify them that you need the FA information to make a final decision. Of course, you have to be on top of completing all FA forms on time.</p>
<p>If you do apply ED, keep working on your other applications as if you didn’t even do the ED application. If you get accepted ED but haven’t seen the financial aid package yes, keep working on the other applications with the assumption the FA won’t be enough for you. There was a student out here last year who didn’t do that, the FA was not enough, and he was really scrambling just a couple of days before all the other applications were due.</p>
<p>OP - note the conversation has largely shifted from EA (early action) to ED (early decision) and that there is a huge difference between the two. Just mentioning to make sure you are aware that happened. There is essentially no risk involved with applying EA; there is potential risk applying ED.</p>
<p>If you need to wait for the financial package, you don’t need to withdraw the other application when accepted at ED. IT said clearly on the CommonApp form. You can wait till the financial aid comes out to decide whether to accept the offer unless the school has a response deadline earlier. However, you still may not have a chance to compare other financial aid offer. So one should carefully consider this before applying ED.</p>
<p>If by “mathematically” you are looking strictly at admission rates, most of the the time that is true. If “mathematically” includes trying to get the best financial deal, then it is not true (with ED). Go ahead on the unrestricted EA applications, no harm in those and you may get some benefit.</p>