There are four types of admission deadlines that students applying for undergrad courses in US colleges need to be aware of. These are:
Early Action
Early Decision
Regular Decision
Rolling Admission
Let’s take a look at what each of these means.
Early Action (EA)
The Early Action (EA) deadline means you can submit applications and receive decision notifications earlier but there is no binding agreement to join the college if your application is accepted. The submission deadlines for EA hover around November 1.
For EA, most colleges give their decision by mid Jan. You will have until May 1 to inform the college of your decision on whether or not you will be attending that particular college. With EA you get ample time to weigh all college options that you get acceptance from, to decide which one suits you best.
There are two EA deadlines:
Unrestricted Early Action (EA)
Restricted Early Action (REA) or Single Choice Early Action (SCEA)
The Unrestricted Early Action allows you to apply to several colleges. This offers you the advantage of getting multiple offers from different colleges and you can then make an informed decision.
REA or SCEA on the other hand allows you to apply to only one college and even though you are not bound to attend this college if you get acceptance, there are chances that the college may ask you to sign a form declaring that you will not be applying to the EA programs of other colleges.
Advantage of Early Action Application
EA means you are not under any binding to attend the college that accepts your application and you have to give your decision only by May 1. This means that you have a lot of time to assess your options for regular decisions, some of which may offer you financial aid as well.
Which EA to apply for
Apply for EA to high-target colleges and if you receive acceptance from one of these, you may not need to apply to safety colleges at all.
Early decision
Early decision means that you will be getting decisions from colleges early but early decision requires a commitment to enroll into the college that accepts your ED application. If the college accepts you with an ED application, you will have to withdraw applications from all other colleges.
More often than not colleges do not offer admission if you have indicated a financial need and if the college cannot meet that need. So apply for ED for only those colleges that rank high on your list and if you can bear the financial costs involved.
The first ED deadline is between October and November and results are declared by mid-December.
Advantage of applying for ED I
The number of applicants for ED I is small, and so the competition is considerably lesser. ED I has a smaller applicant pool, which reduces the competition. The acceptance rates of colleges in ED is at least two to three times higher than through other rounds.
Disadvantage of applying ED I
You need to work way in advance – your common app and supplemental essays should be completed in the summer. The SAT or ACT should be taken as early as possible. Considering that the ED 1 deadline is before your Grade XII results, the decision of the admission officers will be based on your predicted grades. If you are accepted in ED 1, then you do not have the option of comparing any financial aids that may come from regular decision applications.
ED II
If ED II has not yielded acceptance from your first-choice college, then ED II is your next best bet to apply to your second-choice college. The submission deadline for ED II falls between December and January; the results are announced in mid-February. A point to note, if your application to a college in ED I or ED II is unsuccessful, you cannot apply again to the same college in the same admission cycle.
Advantage of applying for ED II
Once again, fewer students applying for ED II than Regular Decision means the competition is less severe. The ED II deadline is close to the Regular Decision deadline so you have enough time to improve your grades, get your LORs and wind up your essays. ED II acceptance rate is higher than the one for Regular Decision.
Disadvantages of applying for ED II
There are lesser colleges offering ED II than those offering ED I. It may so happen that your second choice college does not offer an ED II deadline.
Regular Decision (RD) deadline
Regular decision deadlines fall between January and February of the college entrance year, and the colleges reveal their decisions in March or April. Regular decision deadlines allow you enough time to improve grades, gather materials, prepare essays and take necessary tests.
There’s a flip side though. If you do not get an acceptance from a prospective school, you have to wait until the following year to re-apply and go through the entire application process.
Use the RD option to apply to safety schools from your college list. Safety colleges are those where your chances of admission are almost certain because your academic scores exceed their averages.
Rolling Admissions
Each college has its own Rolling Admissions deadline, some accept applications throughout the year while others have a specific admission window. Colleges review applications on a rolling basis against fixed criteria until all seats in the college are filled up.
These are non-binding and you can apply to several colleges at the same time. If you get acceptance from more than one college, you can choose the one which suits your the best.
The rolling admission process is quick. You are likely to get the decision from the college within 4 to 6 weeks of your applying. It is always advantageous to apply sooner than later because you are not compared to the accepted students as there is a whole incoming class to fill.
You can spread out your application load with applying for the Rolling Admissions deadline. Submit a few applications in early Fall and then follow these with other applications in the next few months.