College Application Deadlines: What’s the Difference?
Early Decision I, Early Decision II, Early Action, Single Choice Early Action, Regular, Rolling— aka ED I, EDII, SCEA, EA, RD… Ahhh! What does all of this even mean?
It seems like every year another type of college application deadline is added to the list of possibilities. Each deadline comes with its own pros and cons. But on top of everything else you need to keep track of throughout this process, this can be yet another daunting web to untangle that can take hours to decode. Here is the quick version to help you decide before you get back to all of the other college application items.
Early Decision (ED) - Sometimes divided into ED I and ED II, which implies earlier and later deadlines, the important thing to know about Early Decision is that it is a binding agreement that you will commit to attending the school to which you apply Early Decision if you are accepted.
Pros: Slightly higher chance of getting accepted, you usually get to know whether you are accepted earlier than Regular Decision deadlines, (usually Dec. or Jan. as opposed to Mar. or Apr.), you get done early with applications.
Cons: You must accept admission if they accept you, even if their financial aid package is lackluster or you got admitted to another school you’d rather go to. Your senior grades aren’t considered. You have to be done with applications earlier than RD (usually Oct. or Nov.) Because it is binding, you can only apply ED to one school.
Early Action (EA) - Early Action is the gentler early application deadline, unless it is Single-Choice Early Action (SCEA), which I will discuss below. EA is a non-binding early application.
Pros: Slightly higher chance of getting accepted, you usually get to know whether you are accepted earlier than Regular Decision deadlines. (Usually Dec. or Jan. as opposed to Mar. or Apr.), non-binding, you can usually apply to more than one school EA.
Cons: It’s an earlier deadline. So if your GPA isn’t as great as you want it to be and you’d like fall semester grades to help boost it, you probably won’t be able to apply to these deadlines because they come before fall semester is over. You have to be done with applications earlier than RD (usually Oct. or Nov.)
Special Note on Single-Choice-Early-Action: SCEA schools only allow you to apply Early Action to to their institution. So you may only have one school that you can apply to under this early distinction (a la ED).
Regular Decision (RD)- This is the standard application deadline for most schools. You will be in a bigger pool of applicants with a slightly later deadline (Usually Dec. or Jan.).
Pros: Later deadline (usually Dec. or Jan.), so you have more time to work on your application, take standardized tests, and potentially boost your GPA with senior year grades.
Cons: You are in a larger pool of applicants, which means more competition, and admissions decisions from the school come later (Mar. or Apr. as opposed to Dec. or Jan. for ED/EA).
Rolling- This can be most lax of the group, but it is also first come first served. The official deadline is often late into the spring and summer, often later than college admission decisions come in, and for some schools almost up until classes start. However, spots are technically limited and can fill up before that deadline happens. Applying early is still the way to go with rolling deadlines.
Pros: If you want to add some last-minute colleges to your list, rolling can be a good way to apply later. If you apply early, your chances go up.
Cons: Applying late can still lessen your chances of admission, and will very likely interfere with your ability to receive scholarships. When the money runs out, it runs out, and it often goes to the early applicants.
