Applying to college is an important step towards a student’s success for the future, and it requires a lot of hard-work and decision making. This leads many students who are applying to college to have questions about how they should apply and which college deadline they should apply to.
The Early Action (EA) deadline is the earliest date a student can apply to the school, and it is one effective way to apply to college due to the fact that it helps increase the student’s chances of getting accepted to a specific school. Along with this, it also gives students more time to decide whether or not they want to go to that institution.
The Regular Decision (RD) deadline is the most common deadline students would apply to, but it does not have the same benefits as applying earlier. While it does give students more time to complete their application, it also gives them less time to make the decision of which school they want to attend, after visiting campus, securing housing, and applying for the free application for federal student aid (FAFSA).
Ultimately, students will have to decide if EA is the best deadline for them while keeping track of the time they have to complete their applications.
Linganore High School (LHS) junior Rayyan Siddiqui believes that Early Action is the best way to get accepted into an individual’s dream school.
“Each student is different, but if they really want to get accepted to that school, I think they should apply early,” Siddiqui said.
LHS counselor Katherine Becker indicated that students should select their choice of deadline on a case-by-case basis, but believes it is a good idea to keep in mind that traditionally applying early to competitive schools helps the students’ chances of getting accepted.
“I think that it depends on the student, and it also depends on the school,” Becker said. “If they wait until the regular decision date, a lot of times the freshmen class has already made selections, and it limits the amount of students they can invite.”
Applying early has more benefits than just providing a better chance of acceptance, though. According to Towson admissions officer Corrina Beimer, applying early helps take off some stress and gives the students a chance at merit scholarships.
“Students who do not apply by the EA deadline do not have that automatic consideration (to merit scholarships),” says Beimer. “Additionally, if you would like to know sooner and be able to weigh your college options at an earlier date, applying by the EA deadline will give you an admissions decision by mid-January at the latest.”
Many people believe that applying for Early Action is dependent on the preferences of the students. Some may reap the benefits, while others believe it is not an important factor to their college journey.
“Each decision all depends on the student! If you are someone who prefers to know sooner, then applying EA is a good choice,” Biemer said. “Regardless of which admissions deadline you apply for, your application is reviewed the same.”
While deciding on when to apply is a key part of entering college, the actual application matters more for colleges to decide whether to accept a student or not.
An application needs an essay as well as a student’s grades, personal information and letters of recommendation as needed.
Rachel Eaves, an admissions counselor from Hood College, suggests using Common App when applying to college if possible, since it will make the entire process easier. She also suggested paying attention to each school’s required application materials because they can vary from place to place.
“Most of the time, if you are applying to several schools and they have an application option for Common App, it’s easiest to use Common App,” said Eaves. “You also need to pay attention to what required materials a school needs in their application. For example, some schools require test scores, some don’t.”
While not everyone will want to apply to college Early Action, it is good to remember that regular decisions have lower admissions rates overall. The majority of students who apply to the regular decision deadline have fewer spots available to them due to EA students becoming the first picks.
So, in order to reduce stress, have time to choose which college you wish to go to and automatically apply to merit scholarships, it can be a smart choice to choose Early Acceptance when applying to college in the future.