Application Advice

One aspect of the college application process that is often overlooked is that it is often advantageous to apply as early as possible. For example, some schools offer rolling admissions which means that decisions are made in the order in which they received. By applying early, this allows you to secure your place in the applicant pool, increasing your chances of admission before spots fill up. Applying early can also demonstrate your enthusiasm and commitment, which may be viewed positively by admissions committee members. Another thing to keep in mind is that many colleges offer formal "Early Action" and "Early Decision" application deadlines which function as follows...

• Early Action (EA): Students apply to a college early and receive an admissions decision earlier than regular decision applicants. Students who apply EA are not obligated to attend the college if admitted and have until the regular decision deadline to decide.

• Early Decision (ED): Students apply to a college early and receive an admissions decision earlier than regular decision applicants. If admitted through ED, students are committed to attending that college and must withdraw any other applications.

We highly recommend applying EA or ED if possible as students applying by these deadlines are typically accepted at a much higher rate. For example, the ED acceptance rate at Northwestern University was 20% for the 2022-2023 admission cycle. Meanwhile, the university's overall acceptance rate was only 7% for the same cycle! This means that a significantly lower percentage of regular decision applicants were ultimately accepted into the university. While we don't recommend rushing your application to submit it by the EA/ED deadline if it isn't ready, we highly recommend applying by these deadlines if possible to increase your likelihood of admission.