There are many reasons to do this. Early applicants tend to have higher acceptance rates, and students who are accepted early don’t have to worry about waiting for decisions for their entire senior year.
While college applicants may be tempted to apply to a school through Early Decision and finish the application process sooner rather than later, it is important to consider several factors before committing. Because Early Decision is a binding commitment to a school, it is important to make sure you want to attend that school if you are accepted.
Here are three reasons experts say you may want to skip early applications and wait for the regular deadline:
- You are not ready to apply yet.
- You need to compare financial aid options.
- You’re not sure a particular college is your best choice.
You are not ready to apply yet
Early decision deadlines typically fall on November 1 or November 15. November comes quickly when you’re preparing personal statements, writing supplemental essays, and collecting letters of recommendation.
If you have to rush to get all your materials together by an early deadline, it may be better to hold off and wait for the regular deadline.
It’s also important to consider the fact that colleges will only be able to view the first three years of your academic record when you apply early, notes Evelyn Themba, vice president of undergraduate enrollment management at American University in Washington, D.C. This means that if your grades improve significantly or if If you have any meaningful accomplishments during the fall semester of your senior year, the college you are applying to early may not be able to take that into account when making its decision.
“The transition to high school varies greatly between students, with many experiencing success and reaching their potential later in their high school years,” says Themba. “Early admission programs don’t really allow students to demonstrate the positive trajectory that occurs once the initial transition to high school is over and students have earned their placement.”
You need to compare financial aid options
If you think you’ll need a significant amount of financial aid to attend a particular university, you’ll need to skip early decision applications, some experts say. Waiting until the application deadline — or applying to some schools through early action, if the option is available — will allow you to compare financial aid packages at other schools to which you are accepted and decide which option is best.
“When you apply early and get in, they give you an offer of financial aid, and that’s the offer you get,” Themba says. “If you wait until Regular Decision, you have the option of considering several financial aid offers and selecting the one that best fits your situation.”
Because Early Decision agreements require you to withdraw applications from other schools upon admission, you will not be able to view financial aid offers from other colleges if you are accepted through Early Decision. On the other hand, early action allows you to keep your options open since you usually don’t have to decide whether to claim or decline your admission until May.
Net price calculators are a good resource for students who need to gauge how much financial aid they’ll get from a college before they actually get an offer, says Carolyn Pippen, a senior college admissions counselor at IvyWise.
“If the estimate they get from the net price calculator is the estimate that works for them, I usually tell students to go ahead with their early applications,” she wrote in an email.
Pippen also points out that colleges tend to understand if a student needs to withdraw their application due to financial issues, especially if the award package they receive is significantly lower than the estimate they expected, even if the agreement is binding.
You’re not sure a particular college is your best choice
Once you enroll in school through an early decision application, this is your only option. This means that this school should be your first choice among all the other schools you are considering applying to.
Pippin typically advises students against applying through Early Decision if they have multiple colleges they strongly desire. Waiting for the regular application timeline will give you more time to compare schools you’re interested in. You may find that the college you want to apply early isn’t a good fit for you as well as another school on your list.
“The thing that gets lost in the conversation about Early Decision is that this is a program for people who have found their dream school and want to apply to it as a first choice, and want to point that school to ‘this is my first choice,’” says Jonathan Williams, associate vice president for undergraduate admissions at the University of California. New York.
Applying to college early decision or early action can be a tempting option for many high school seniors, but there are also valid reasons to consider skipping this route. While the allure of early acceptance may seem appealing, it’s important to weigh the pros and cons. In this article, we’ll explore three reasons why skipping the early application process may be a better choice for some students. From opportunities for financial aid to the ability to fully compare different college options, there are several factors to consider before making the decision to apply early.