EA vs. ED vs. SCEA vs. Regular

Summary

Comprehensive Deadline Cheat Sheet:

Early Decision:

• Early deadline for application requirements (typically Nov. 1st but some schools have individualized deadline dates)

• Higher chances of admittance because schools are reassured you are interested in their program

• More access to scholarships from the school at this stage

• Written commitment that states if the student is admitted they are required to attend (signed by student, high school counselor, guardian)

  • You cannot retract the commitment even if you do not like the financial package or costs associated with going to the school except in extenuating circumstances

• You obtain the admittance decision early (typically around the end of December)

• The commitment bans you from applying to other schools with an early deadline (in some cases you will be permitted to apply to a handful of public schools early- this information is accessible on the dream school’s website)

• This route is ideal for a student that has one dream school and would do anything to go there

Early Restrictive Action:

• Early deadline for application requirements (typically Nov. 1st but some schools have individualized deadline dates)

• Can only apply early restrictive action to one school and that prohibits applying to other schools early (some school’s will allow you to apply early to select public schools- will report this on their website)

• Higher chances at admission and higher chance of being granted scholarships at this stage

• You obtain your admission decision early (around the end of December of the same year)

• If you are admitted into the one school you may choose to attend or not

• Route is ideal if there is one clear school that you are interested in and you’re not really looking at other schools but you do not want to commit for financial reasons

Early Action (Priority):

• Application deadline is early similar to Early Decision and Early Restrictive Action (Around November 1st)

• Higher chances of obtaining scholarships-some schools will only offer scholarships to students who apply early

• You can apply to as many schools as you would like via the Early Action Application

• You receive an admission decision early (around the end of December)

• Slightly higher chances of admittance as compared to regular decision, lower if compared to early decision and early restrictive action applications

• I would recommend this route for most students

Rolling Decision:

• You can submit your application at any time between the start and end dates (typically September through May for a Fall start)

• You receive your admittance decision around 2-3 weeks after successful submission of application

• Ideal for someone who wants to have a college decision quickly to feel safe as they apply to other schools, or for a student who has missed the deadlines for other applications.

Regular Decision:

• Regular application deadlines which are beginning of January (specific dates vary by school) which give students more time to perfect the application, take additional standardized tests etc.

• Some schools offer some scholarships for this deadline, however not as many options as earlier deadlines

• Decision regarding admittance sent out around May

• Note that your chances of being admitted are not as high as they were with earlier deadlines

• You can submit to as many schools as you would like without any restrictions

Credit goes to Joanna Klimek.