Brinda Ambal

We can’t have nice things, so we get a confusing hodgepodge of letters and numbers.

College admissions could be simple: send us your application by this deadline and we’ll get back to you. But we can’t have nice things, so instead we get a confusing hodgepodge of letters and numbers. You don’t just apply to the University of Chicago; you also have to specify if you’re applying EDI, EA, EDII or RD. Depending on the plan(s) a school offers, you might have decisions to make regarding what schools you apply to and when you apply to them. In this section, I’ll provide a brief description of the types of admissions plans you may encounter.

Early Decision I (EDI)

By applying ED, you are making a binding commitment to a school that you will withdraw all other applications if accepted. Typically, EDI deadlines are in early November with decisions being released in mid-December. One of the main benefits of applying ED is the quantifiable boost to your admissions chances. For example, Northwestern University filled 54.6% of their fall 2019 freshman class from ED, and the ED acceptance rate more than tripled the regular decision (RD) rate, 24.9% to 7.1%. You can find this data for more schools here. I should note, however, that the raw numbers are a bit misleading. Keep in mind that the ED pool comprises students with the organization, motivation and support system to complete their application early, traits that suggest they were stronger applicants to begin with. The ED round of admissions also includes more “hooked” applicants (recruited athletes, legacy kids/endowment donors, etc.) that inflate the numbers. All of this is to say that applying ED to an elite college isn’t going to magically transform your odds, but it’s certainly helpful, especially at some schools. If you’re curious, this post from a college admissions consultant walks through the nitty-gritty of ED vs. RD math.

I would recommend applying ED on two conditions:

1. The school truly is your top choice. If they offered you a spot in their freshman class today, would you take it without thinking twice? Don’t be one of those people that applies ED to game the system, then ends up stuck somewhere they don’t really want to be.

2. The school is a comfortable financial fit. I won’t sugarcoat things: ED benefits wealthy families that don’t have to worry about affording college, which is one of several reasons why I wish schools would do away with such policies. One of the hidden drawbacks to a binding agreement is that you lose to ability to compare financial aid offers. Before you apply, be sure to utilize the Net Price Calculator — see this section for more financial aid information — to gauge your expected financial contribution. You can technically back out of an ED acceptance without repercussions if you have a valid reason (a major life event causes you to need to stay close to home, you genuinely could not afford a school given their financial aid offer, etc.), but this largely operates on a case-by-case, school-by-school basis. If the number the Net Price Calculator churns out is too high, I would advise against locking yourself in via ED. One additional note: you should save your Net Price Calculator results because you might be able to use them to negotiate a better aid package or, if necessary, get released from a cost-prohibitive ED arrangement.

Early Decision II (EDII)

EDII functions identically to EDI. The only notable difference is that the deadline to apply is later, usually in early January, and you can expect to hear back from the school in February instead of December.

Early Action (EA)

EA is similar to ED in that you apply earlier and receive an admissions decision earlier. The key difference is that EA is non-binding. If accepted, you can still consider other schools and have until May to make your final decision. As a result, any admissions boost that EA provides is a relatively minor one. The primary benefit of EA is the earlier decision date, although some scholarships, honors programs, etc. may require or recommend that students apply by the EA deadline. Another factor to take into account is that your earlier applications, especially your essays, will inevitably be lower quality. Speaking personally, getting to learn from my experience applying to four schools by Dec. 15 did wonders for my later applications. To that end, some students intentionally stagger their application dates not only to make the workload more manageable, but to get ample “practice” before the EDII/RD round.

Restrictive Early Action (REA)

REA, sometimes referred to as Single Choice Early Action (SCEA), is a specific type of EA plan. REA is also non-binding, but limits your ability to apply early to other schools. The rules can vary at each school, but if you want an example, this is Stanford University’s REA plan:

• “It is Stanford policy that, if you apply to Stanford with a decision plan of Restrictive Early Action, you may not apply to any other private college/university under their Early Action, Restrictive Early Action, Early Decision or Early Notification plan.
• In addition, it is Stanford policy that you may not apply to any public university under an early binding plan, such as Early Decision.
• If you apply to Stanford under Restrictive Early Action, you may apply to other colleges and universities under their Regular Decision plan.
• If you apply to Stanford under Restrictive Early Action and your application is deferred, you may apply to another college’s Early Decision II plan.”

Regular Decision (RD)

I promise RD won’t be as headache-inducing to explain. This one is pretty straightforward: you apply by that school’s deadline (Jan. 1, Jan. 15 and Feb. 1 are common dates), hear back in the spring and, if accepted, have until May to decide if you want to enroll. There are no strings attached, but you lose out on the perks of applying early.

If deciding between applying, say, EA or RD, I would note that sending in a rushed application early won’t do you any favors compared to a more polished application for the RD round. Applying later may also be beneficial if you want first semester grades from senior year to improve your GPA or more time developing relationships with teachers before they need to submit your letters of recommendation.

Rolling Admissions

You are most likely to find rolling admissions policies at public state schools and community colleges. Schools that use rolling admissions do not have hard application deadlines. Rather, students may apply at any point during a larger window of time and will typically receive their admissions decision within a few weeks. That said, you should still be on the lookout for any priority/other deadlines you want to meet.

Priority/Other Deadlines

This isn’t an admissions plan per se, but is nonetheless something worth discussing. Some schools have priority deadlines for scholarships, honors programs, etc. that are not the same date as the actual application deadline. For example, the University of Southern California’s RD deadline, their sole admissions plan, wasn’t until Jan. 15 this year, but students had to apply by Dec. 1 to be considered for merit scholarships. If applicable, this information can be found on a school’s admissions website or by contacting their admissions office.