Should I Apply Early Decision?

While drafting my college list, I knew I wanted a few things…. a city school not too far from home with a medium-size campus and population that offered a communications major and a diverse and social student body. Shouldn’t be too hard to find right? Wrong! When visiting schools, I kept running into problems everywhere I went! One school was near a vibrant city but didn’t offer a communications major, another had a communications major but the diversity was lacking, another had a diverse population but a cramped ugly campus. I was beginning to think my dream school didn’t exist. And then I arrived at the University of Pennsylvania. City school? Check! Not too big, not too small? Check! Close enough to home? Check! Communications department? Check! 40% minority population? Check! Known as the “social Ivy”? Check! Leaving my visit, I knew no other school would top UPenn for me.

Seeing as UPenn was my clear #1 choice, I considered applying Early Decision. Under Early Decision plans, students sign a binding commitment to enroll if accepted. Applications are submitted earlier than usual, typically in November, and notification usually occurs in December. If accepted, all other college applications must be withdrawn immediately. (Side note: I have a friend who was accepted Early Decision to a top Ivy, but she failed to withdraw her other applications. Somehow the Ivy found out and revoked her acceptance to their school. Follow the rules people!)

In deciding whether to go Early Decision or not, I had to weigh the pros and cons. Early Decision is a highly debated aspect of college admissions. Colleges typically have higher admittance rates during the Early Decision period. For example, some of the nation’s top schools might admit 35% of students who apply Early Decision, but only 11% of students during Regular Decision. Students who apply Early Decision are essentially telling the school I WANT YOU and schools clearly want students with that kind of commitment. Since less students apply Early Decision than Regular Decision, one can even say there is less competition and a greater chance of getting in. But also consider, although the competition might be less, the quality of students who apply Early Decision might be tougher!

A major con about Early Decision is that since you are committed to attend the school once you’re accepted, you lose the opportunity to compare financial aid packages with other universities. For students who absolutely need financial aid and a school’s financial offering is THE major determining factor in where they decide to attend, applying Early Decision can be off-putting. This unfairness which seems to discriminate again lower-income applicants is one of the main driving forces behind a recent trend in colleges dropping their early application options.

Knowing that my parents had set aside money for my college education and I could potentially afford the risk of not comparing financial aid packages, I decided to go ahead with my early application to UPenn. I remember filling out my application and sending it off early in November. I also did an interview with a UPenn alum who lived up the street from me, in order to further confirm my loyalty to the school. Meanwhile, on the side, I still worked on my other applications to other schools just in case I wasn’t accepted to UPenn.

Then, one evening in mid-December, as I was preparing for my school’s winter concert and excited about Christmas break, I logged into the UPenn admissions website to check the status of my application. I signed into the page and saw a letter staring back at me. I was accepted. More than my feelings of happiness was a huge sense of relief to know that my college admissions process was over. I spent years of SAT classes, college visits, and mandatory essay writing workshops at school, all for this moment. And now I could enjoy my second semester of senior year, completely stress-free knowing I was already accepted into college—possibly the GREATEST advantage of applying Early Decision!

I wanted to share my experience with you to give one perspective of the Early Decision process. It was a decision that worked out well for me and I encourage students with a clear #1 school who can afford the risk to consider applying early.

For others on the fence, an alternative you can look into is applying Early Action. This is an application deadline found at many universities that allows you to apply early and receive an early decision, but with a non-binding agreement– so you can choose to attend or not to attend.

Natasha Scott is author of The College Admissions Bible. Visit www.CollegeAdmissionsBible.com for more information. To contact Natasha for a speaking engagement or other opportunities, email her at info@collegeadmissionsbible.com or call 973-951-4613.