During the admissions process, students not only have to decide which colleges to apply to but also make decisions about decision plans.
Decision plans fall into three major categories: early, regular, and rolling. Then there are additional variations of the early options - early action, early decision, and restrictive early action. To know more about the difference between the types of deadlines, visit - The Types of Deadlines.
This abundance of choices raises a lot of questions for the students and their families, like: “What are the advantages of a regular decision over an early decision?” “My first-choice school offers an early decision plan, but is it right for me?” “Does applying early to some of the schools on my list help or hurt my chances?” “How does applying under these different plans affect financial aid at the schools on my list?” etc.
Whether a college offers early decision, rolling admission, regular admission, early action, or any combination of these depends upon the college’s size, mission, philosophy, and goals. There is tremendous diversity in what the colleges offer and what they think about these programs. Therefore, no one decision plan is best for every student or college in their country.
“We make an assumption that students who come in through the early pathway raise the bar when it comes to energy and enthusiasm, and that’s great foundation on which to build a class. I think we see it as the core of the freshman class. So there are these two pathways through which people can come to Emory. It’s not necessary for everybody to come through early decision or even most students. And in the end, it’s all one freshman class.”
John Latting,
Assistant Vice Provost for Undergraduate Enrollment and Dean of Admission, Emory University
It is vital to ask relevant questions to yourself before you settle on the decision plans. For example, you should question whether there is an advantage to applying early at a given school. If you haven’t researched colleges well or visited them, then these other strategic issues are not really that important. What’s the use of getting a leg up at a university that isn’t even a good fit for you?
Instead of asking yourself, “How can I increase my chances of getting into a specific university?” ask, “Where would I really like to be in the next year?” “Where am I best prepared to be?” “Where is it realistic for me to go?”
It would help if you started with these questions before settling your decision plans. Then, the answers to these questions will guide you into selecting the best decision plan for yourself.
To help you brainstorm further, here are some answers to the questions you possibly might have about the decision plans.
“What are the advantages of a regular decision over an early decision?”
The advantage of a regular decision is that you can apply to as many colleges as you wish and make your final commitment without consequences since an early decision can be binding.
“My first-choice school offers an early decision plan, but is it right for me?”
To assess whether or not an early decision plan is right for your first-choice schools, you should look at the bigger picture. The effective way to approach this decision is to thoroughly research the campus life, curriculum, and course-specific details and also connect with the university alumni to clear all your doubts about the same.
Before finalizing your decision plan, assess the other universities on your list. Would you regret not having waited out for the application to some other university? If you doubt your answer even for a short while, it could be better for you to wait out the early decision plan.
“Does applying early to some of the schools on my list help or hurt my chances?”
Usually, applying early to schools helps your chances as it helps you demonstrate your readiness and commitment to a specific university and shows your preparation to the admissions committee. However, applying early has different options: Early Decision, Early Action, and Restricted Early Action. Therefore, before you finalize your decision plan, you should weigh the pros and cons of each decision plan and assess the consequences for yourself.
For example - you should go for Early Decision only if you’re 100% sure of your university selection and wouldn’t mind if the early decision bound you to the university and ruled out all other options.
“How does applying under these different plans affect financial aid at the schools on my list?
The effect of these decision plans on financial aid and scholarships is usually university-specific. Financial aid might still be a considerable option even when applying under these different plans; however, the scholarships might be affected. We recommend visiting university-specific websites to know more about these decisions' impact on your financial aid.
Source
Mamlet, Robin, and Christine VanDeVelde. College Admission: From Application to Acceptance, Step by Step. Three Rivers Press, 2011.
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