Schools with rolling admissions?

<p>What is your opinion on schools with rolling admissions? Are there a lot of them in the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic states? Should my D have one on her prospective college list?</p>

<p>It's very nice to have one rolling admissions school on a student's list. DS had one and he knew by the beginning of December that he had been accepted. It was nice to have an acceptance in hand while waiting until April for some of the others. As DS put it "at least I know I will be going SOMEWHERE". I should add, however, that this should be a college your student would WANT to attend. No point in applying anywhere that the student wouldn't want to attend (just my humble opinion). DS actually liked his rolling admit school...it was his number 3 option. He would have attended there if 1 and 2 hadn't panned out.</p>

<p>My son got an acceptance right before Christmas. Now during this waiting time it is a blessing.</p>

<p>Rolling Admission is the best!! Get your application out as soon as the college posts it's essay topics or new application, and you stand a better chance the earlier you send it in. There are many schools with RA, get a college guide, Princeton Review, Fiske's Guide, and info like that is listed in a box on each school page.
Rutgers University in N.J has RA. But there are probably more.
Early Action is also a great option, where you apply by Nov.1, the school lets you know around Dec.15 (usually), and it is not a binding decision on your part.</p>

<p>Drexel was RA, and you don't pay the application fee if you apply on-line via Drexel's website.</p>

<p>Agree with thumper1 if you can find a fit.</p>

<p>RE: rolling admissions - Just FYI - One thing to keep in mind is that some states have low out-of-state admit %'s - for example - The North Carolina University system limits out-of-state admits to 18% - at all 16 schools. If your student is really interested in one of those schools - it is to their best advantage/interest to get their application in ASAP starting in Sept/OCT - as out-of-state admits are closed as soon as the magic number/% is reached - and responses are surprisingly fast usually - it is nice to have one in your pocket while waiting for the others - nice to know one is wanted lol - my DD had her acceptance from her 1st choice in 12 days!!! and from her second choice - which was EA - in 21 days.</p>

<p>So we had a very happy camper in our house in the very early part of her senior year - made a huge difference for her.</p>

<p>Just to emphasize, EA as good as rolling for that sigh-of-relief effect in December or January. EA usually will have an application deadline of Nov. 1 or so, whereas rolling you can submit when you're ready most of the time.</p>

<p>Nothing better in my mind than having and EA/rolling in hand IF, as thumper says, it is a college you would really like. However, I think most students would be able to find a safety EA/rolling that would work.</p>

<p>You can see info about who does EA & ED and what their deadlines are on this nifty website.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.nacac.com/earlyadmission.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.nacac.com/earlyadmission.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>My D did 3 EA and got 3 acceptances. Big stress reliever. Also, two of the schools announced merit aid awards within a few weeks of the acceptance.</p>

<p>I would say the more apps in early the better. Even for ED reaches; you can get a "likely letter" if your app is in early.</p>

<p>My first choice is rolling admissions. I was thrilled when I got accepted a week after I submitted materials (a day after they got my transcripts).</p>

<p>SBMom - Too late for my/S own use, but curious re "likely" letter. The info may help others, for whom it's still relevant. I have seen this referred to re athletes, but now you mention it re broader population. Do some schools automatically send these? Does one ask? How does this work?</p>

<p>Any outstanding applicant can get this, though it may have originated for athletes, as a way of Ivys holding on to kids who were getting pressure to 'sign' with other D1 schools. Princeton, Yale, etc forums all have threads on this topic. </p>

<p>The letters are a version of "you are an outstanding applicant and if you keep it up there is every likelihood you will be admitted." Basically, if you don't self destruct, plagarize, or get arrested in the intervening months, you are in.</p>

<p>I think a relatively small, "creme de la creme" number of kids get these. On one Ivy thread it said the likely letters mentioned a number, I recall roughly about 100 kids got a letter. I suspect it is athletes, brainiacs, and URMs that the school wants really badly... gives the kid an extra couple of months to visualize themselves at this school, to know they can turn down another school.</p>

<p>I thought you can apply EA/ED to only one school? If that app. is due November first, that means my D will still need to apply RD to other schools by the regular deadline, right? Otherwise, it will be hard to send them in after the EA/ED decision comes in since it will be so close to Christmas vacation...</p>

<p>Can somebody give me the low-down on Sarah Lawrence? If you go to the SL post, there's somebody else interested too.</p>

<p>damom -
(1) There are some variations among schools in the rules for ED. Check each website, but in general:
(2) EA (Early admission): apply early, get an early answer. Usually there are no restrictions on how many others you can apply to or when. You get the answer early, but you do not have to decide whether to go there until the "normal" deadline - typically May 1.
(3) SCEA (Single choice early admission): relatively new; right now only a few schools have (eg, Stanford). apply early, get an early answer. There ARE restrictions on applying early to any others - check the individual school's rules. Again, you get the answer early, but you do not have to decide whether to go there until the "normal" deadline - typically May 1.
(4) ED (Early decision): apply early, get an early answer AND you are committed to attend if accepted. You may apply EA or RD to other schools, but not any other ED or SCEA. Typically you hear by 12/15 and must send in your deposit by 12/31 or so. Some schools have "exceptions" to the commitment if you do not receive adequate financial aid.</p>

<p>You are right about the timing. If you have sent in your EA/ED by, say, 11/1 and are waiting for an answer until 12/15 you very may well have to submit other apps whose deadlines are 12/15 (ie, before you have heard re your ED/EA).</p>

<p>I hope this is clear as mud. It will become second nature to you very soon and you will see many, many posts about it.</p>

<p>Imho, ED is to be avoided my most. You will see very many posts on the pros and cons of it. Check out some of the threads on ED/EA. I am a big fan of EA or SCEA but not ED - too many reasons for a 17-year old to rethink that commitment as the weeks and months go by. A lot of info, "wooing" and other activities can occur that affect a student's view of where they want to go.</p>

<p>Thank you so much, jmmom! Now I understand EA/ED/SCEA/RD better. My D is a junior and we plan to visit campuses this spring. This is all new to me...so different from when I went to college eons ago!</p>

<p>Just want to add that some ED schools do NOT permit applications to EA schools. Duke/BC is a permissable ED/EA combo; Princeton/BC is not because Princeton does not permit EA apps if you are applying ED to them. What is complicating is that this is often not clear. It is in the instructions, but it is easy to read right over that part.</p>