If your student has their heart set on a specific and highly competitive college, they may want to consider applying for Early Decision (ED).
Early Decision (ED) is an admissions process. It provides an expedited admissions decision in exchange for a student’s binding commitment to attend if they’re accepted. The application can only be sent to one school and signals to that school it is the student’s top choice.
A single ED application can save the cost and time spent applying to multiple schools, and helps reduce the stress of waiting to hear if your student has been accepted. If they’re not accepted, there’s still time to apply to other schools. Some colleges also offer Early Decision II applications, with a deadline that is closer to Regular Decision.
Early Decision schools include high-ranking universities and colleges like Duke, Rice, Brown, and Northwestern, as well as less competitive schools like Drexel University, Susquehanna University, Elon University, and Furman University.
In addition to ED, there’s also an Early Action option (EA) at many schools in which students do not have to commit if admitted and can apply early to multiple colleges and universities. EA does not increase a student’s chances of admittance as much as Early Decision can, but it does provide acceptance results faster than Regular Decision. According to the College Board, about 450 colleges offer one or both of the options: early decision and early action.
Early Decision is not for everyone. Before considering an ED application, here’s what you should know:
Who Should Apply Early Decision?
If a student requires no financial assistance, is an athletic recruit, or a legacy candidate to a school, Early Decision may be a good choice. This can also be true for underrepresented students, and students who have completed their essays and standardized tests ahead of time and feel confident about their applications.
Before applying Early Decision, you should check the school’s net price calculator, which can be found on their website. Make sure your family is able to afford the school without financial aid, since an ED acceptance comes before any aid package may or may not be offered. Keep in mind that the estimated results of a net price calculator are exactly that, an estimate.
How Does Applying Early Decision Impact Merit Aid?
Colleges rely on ED as a way to bring in a percentage of the revenue they need. If your student signs an ED contract, they are agreeing to attend the school and pay whatever they’re told their portion of the cost will be, regardless of whether it meets their financial needs. They may eventually be able to receive financial help, but if they apply ED, they won’t have the opportunity to consider competing offers. For many students and their families, this outweighs the benefits.
How Does Applying Early Decision Increase Chances of Acceptance?
Applying early decision can greatly increase chances of admittance, particularly at selective colleges. For example, at Dartmouth, the class of 2028 ED acceptance rate was 17%, compared to 3.85% for regular decision. At Brown University, 14.4 % of the 2028 class was admitted via Early Decision, compared to 5.2% for regular decision. And at Vanderbilt University, the ED acceptance rate for the Class of 2028 was 15.2%, compared to 3.7% for regular decision.
Is Early Decision Really Binding?
Even though the ED contract is technically binding, students shouldn’t face consequences if they need to walk away. This is especially true for students who can’t afford to accept the aid package offered by their school of choice.
If your student does break their agreement, their offer will be rescinded, though most students opt to attend regardless. Denying the offer because of the lack of affordability is a valid option and will not impact your student other than losing their spot on the class roster.
“If it’s not a school that bakes aid predictability into the net price calculator—if you get in early decision and the [financial] offer is not to your liking, you should take a walk,” Ron Lieber of the New York Times told Road2College. “Early decision is not binding. It is not legally binding [and] it is not ethically binding if the school does not predict for you what it is actually going to cost.”
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Use R2C Insights to help find merit aid and schools that fit the criteria most important to your student. You’ll not only save precious time, but your student will avoid the heartache of applying to schools they aren’t likely to get into or can’t afford to attend.
Other Articles You Might Like:
The Best and Worst Early College Decision Results
Early Decision vs Early Action: Ins and Outs, Pros and Cons, and How to Choose
Exploring Early Decision 2: How It Works and Who Should Consider It
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