It’s hard out there for a kid …..applying to college

Helping your Child Decide which Admissions Process is Best for Them

Harvard and Princeton have just dropped their early admissions programs. Wonderful. The other Ivies and “highly selective” schools may follow suit. However, there are approximately 270 other colleges and universities that offer early-decision programs.
Are the other schools likely to follow suit…….The jury is still out.

It should be noted that despite all the fanfare surrounding Harvard and Princeton dropping their early admissions programs, they are not the first major university to drop the early admissions program. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill stopped using the early-decision program in 2002 because the program had an adverse impact upon and low-income and minority students. In 2002, Mary Washington College in Virginia ended its early-decision program because of a number of complaints that the early decision program exacerbated the stress in the college application process. ( Va. college to eliminate 'early decision' program. (2002, October 3). The Washington Post, p. A12. )

In November of 2002. Yale and Stanford Universities announced that they were dropping their early-decision programs in 2003 for applicants for the 2004-5 academic year. Both universities adopted a nonbinding early-action program.

Before the 1990’s the college application process for seniors was pretty simple. The senior sent of for information from the colleges and universities in which they had an interest. Usually, after much haranguing and cajoling from parents (who were determined that the kid was going to be out of the house the following September), the student would fill out their applications sometime before the end of December and wait for a thick or thin envelope to arrive in April. Usually, the student did not decide until May where they were going to attend school. Early decision programs significantly shorten this process.

Students who are certain, or at least think they are certain as to their first choice college and utilize the early decision options may submit an early decision applications to one school no later than November 15th or January 15th. Students are usually notified of their acceptance or rejection within a month of submitting the early decision application. Students can apply to other colleges under their regular admission programs .

Students accepted through the early decision process are stuck with their choice. If they receive a Dear Student, We Regret to inform you letter, they have to renew the application process for other schools: complete more applications, writhe other essays ; and, maybe obtain new recommendation letters, etc. At this juncture, you and your child may have figured out that it might be wise to have at least reviewed the admission standards for other colleges; started or made plans to start on applications to other schools so that the applications can be submitted by the December or early January deadlines of most colleges.

As your child begins to review college materials to determine which colleges and universities to submit applications, you and the student should review each college’s early decision/action policy and decide, in light of your own particular circumstances which option is best for your family. The word family is emphasized because dependent upon your financial circumstances and a variety of other factors, a student’s decision to apply early decision may dramatically impact the family.

There are no standard guidelines regarding early action and early decision because each college or university has its own policy. Each institution has its own early decision and early action policies, which only lends to the confusion of students and parents.