“Early” College App Deadlines Rapidly Approaching

What greater holiday gift is there for a college bound student than to receive a fat acceptance letter, or a congratulatory email, from a college of choice? But in order to have a chance of getting such good news by the holidays, students typically need to submit their college applications by the “early” deadline of November 1st or, in some cases, November 15th.

Students can apply to as many colleges “early action” as they like and, if accepted, they are not required to attend. This differs from an “early decision” application which can only be submitted to one college and binds the student to attend, if accepted.

Aside from the obvious emotional advantage of hearing back from colleges earlier, there is another key advantage to filing early applications. Colleges are well aware that many students apply to eight or more colleges. It’s somewhat of a guessing game for college admissions officers to try to figure out which students, if accepted, would actually attend.  So many colleges, including some of the most competitive institutions, accept a substantially higher percentage of their early decision candidates knowing they will definitely enroll.  To a lesser extent, colleges also tend to favor early action students who have demonstrated a strong interest in their school.

According to admissions data for students who entered college last fall, many colleges popular with New Jersey students reported a much higher early action acceptance rate than overall acceptance rate.

Drexel University reported a 92% early action acceptance rate to a 65% overall acceptance rate.  Ohio State University cited a ratio of 64% to 35%, Notre Dame’s ratio is 26% to 12%, St. Joseph’s University is 88% to 57%, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute is 64% to 22%. 

As for early decision applicants, who are ready to commit to one particular college, there are many top institutions that greatly increase the odds of acceptance.  The percentages of students accepted early decision, in comparison to regular decision, at some popular schools are: Lehigh University 66% to 29%, College of the Holy Cross 83% to 31%, Bucknell University 64% to 32%, American University 85% to 33%, New York University (NYU) 28% to 14%, Northeastern University 37% to 18%, George Washington University 71% to 39%, and The College of New Jersey 65% to 48%. 

College applications are one category where procrastination does not pay off!

Susan Alaimo is the founder of Collegebound Review. For the past 25 years, Collegebound Review's Ivy League educated tutors have prepared students for the PSAT®, SAT®, ACT®, Subject Tests®, AP courses, and all high school subjects. Visit www.CollegeboundReview.com or call 908-369-5362