I have heard about Early Action, Restrictive Early decision, so whats the difference in between them? How to apply to colleges early? What are the requirements and all?
Colleges offer different application plans. An “early” plan has an earlier application date than the “regular” plan and gives you an earlier response.
Early action = you apply early, get a decision early. No obligation to commit to that school.
Restrictive early action = similar to early action but some sort of restriction is imposed - the most common being, you cannot simultaneously apply to another private school (known as a Single Choice Early Action plan). Some like Georgetown and Notre Dame will prevent you from apply Early Decision to another school.
Early decision = you apply early, and if accepted you have to commit to that school.
Look at each school’s requirements to know what the deadlines are. Generally the actual application requirements are the same between early and regular applications.
Two things to note:
- Some schools will require you to apply early in order to qualify for honors and scholarships
- A school you apply early to may choose to defer you to the regular round rather than give you a final yes/no response
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Early action (EA): you apply by the early deadline, college gives a result (admit, reject, defer) by an earlier date. If admitted, you have until May 1 to decide whether to attend.
Restrictive early action (REA): same as EA, except that you also agree not to apply early to some other schools. Each school with REA may have different restrictions.
Early decision (ED): you apply by the early deadline, college gives a result, and if you are admitted, you agree to attend (typically, only contingent on financial aid being sufficient).
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Another related concept is “rolling admissions” where the school will make decisions as apps are received. This and the fact that often merit scholarships and even financial aid are awarded also on a rolling basis makes it advantageous to get in some applications earlier. Usually REA rules do not restrict rolling admission apps as long as acceptances are not binding.
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Rolling admission schools are best applied to as early as possible, since the school, scholarships, or desirable majors may become more selective later as they fill up.
Also, some schools fill up a very large part of their class EA or ED, so those who apply later are less likely to be admitted than they would have been in EA or ED.
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