Early Decision vs. Early Action

With early deadlines hovering, it is important to consider the options carefully.  Early decision is a binding agreement that requires a student to attend the university if accepted (unless they do not receive the financial aid they expect).   Students can only apply to one university under an early decision agreement. Early decisions are usually released mid-December.  If a student does apply early decision, we encourage them to forge forward with other applications, just in case, as we have found that doing last minute applications is a sure fire way to ruin a family’s December holiday plans. 

Early action is non-binding and means a student applies early and hears early and is not bound to attend if accepted.  This is a GREAT option for many reasons. One benefit is that early action inspires a student to get a jump start on their applications.  Another reason is that hearing from a few universities in January can help a student settle and enjoy their last year of high school a bit more.   There are a few early action plans that restrict the number of early action applications (notably Boston College and Stanford), but most universities allow students to apply to as many early action options as they are able.  Early deadlines are usually between November 1^st and November 15^th.  

See here for more information:

From College Board

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/apply/the-application/104.html

A great video from US News and World Report

http://usnews.feedroom.com/?fr_story=9e407c1d24a2aa5550133e384fc68dbee59f8ceb