US College Admission: Early Decision vs Early Action
For universities in the US, there are basically two types of application for admission: regular or early. Regular decision (RD) is when you submit your admission application on the regular application deadline which is normally in January. There are two types of early applications: early decision (ED) and early action (EA). Both ED and EA applications' due dates are usually in November, which is much earlier than the RD. Early application deadline is early November (1st or 15th) for most universities that do accept early applications. Accordingly, decision notifications from the university will be received by ED and EA students usually around mid-December, while RD students will get them in early April.
Early Decision vs Early Action
Early decision is a binding agreement, which means that if students apply and get accepted through the ED application, they must attend the college and withdraw all other applications. Students can only apply ED to one university (which is typically their top choice college), and RD to the others. When you receive your ED decision, the school will simultaneously send the letter of acceptance (or rejection) together with their offer of financial aid (if you applied for any). Early action, on the other hand, is not a binding agreement. It lets you apply early and get the decision early, plus submit your reply (whether you will be attending) on May 1st, which is the general candidates' reply date. Unlike ED, you can apply EA to a few other colleges. You can also compare financial aids from other colleges, and wait around for replies from other universities before you have to make your final school choice.
Why apply early?
Both early decision (ED) and early action (EA) are beneficial for students who have their higher education plan mapped out clearly, i.e. which exact institution they want to go to, or if they have had a clear list of priorities for the institutions they wish to attend. Applying early not only allow you to have a peace of mind as it reduces stress, but also allow you to unconsciously prepare and plan ahead and better for your college applications. ED also tends to have higher acceptance rates than RD. It also give you more time to look for housing and prepare for your college move, and if you are rejected, you get to reassess options.
The potential outcomes
Early decision applications may have three possible outcomes: acceptance, denial, and deferral. Early action and regular decision applications only have two possible outcomes: acceptance and denial.
The drawbacks
Okay, so is applying early good for every applicants? Well, the answer is that may not be the case for every one. As mentioned before, it will be beneficial ONLY if you know exactly where you want to go, and if you are pretty confident with your application materials as a whole. If you feel that your application package still needs more buffing, you might just consider to apply by regular decision. Applying early also put more pressures on the students to decide early on, especially when they have to commit to one college. Not a drawback but definitely worth noting as part of your application strategy would be that ED decision date is just around two weeks apart from RD application deadlines. So, make sure you have all your applications ready to be submitted while waiting for the ED outcome.
In short, ED and EA applications are recommended for students who:
- has done extensive research on colleges and is sure that the college is his/her first choice and the best good fit (academically, socially, geographically, financially)
- is confident and well-prepared with his/her application package
- do not solely rely on financial aids to study in the university (i.e. ED students will not be able to compare financial aids from other colleges)
Our final advice on early applications
Not all colleges have ED, EA, or any early application arrangements, so make sure you check with the universities you will be applying to. Some colleges also offer a nonbinding option of single-choice early action, in which applicants can only apply to one school through an early admission program, but applicants can reply by the regular May 1st deadline. Some institutions such as Harvard, Yale, and Stanford offer this Restrictive Early Action. If you are ultimately and absolutely sure of your first-choice college, you have found your best-fit college, you are a strong admission candidate for the school, and you can afford the tuition, by all means, apply ED. If you are still not sure of which application plan to go with, one of our education consultants will be able to help you further break them down, and create a personalized admission plan for you.
