Early decision is a common early admission policy used in college admissions in the United States for admitting freshmen to undergraduate programs. It is used to indicate to the University or College that the candidate considers that institution to be his or her top choice. Candidates applying early decision typically submit their applications by the end of October of their senior year of high school and receive a decision in mid-December. In contrast, students applying regular decision typically must submit their applications by January 1 and receive their admissions decision by April 1. Early admission is a college admission plan in which students apply earlier in the year than usual and receive their results early as well. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles accessible from a disambiguation page. ... Alternate uses: Student (disambiguation) Etymologically derived through Middle English from the Latin second-type conjugation verb stŭdērĕ, which means to study, a student is one who studies. ... In some educational systems, undergraduate education is post-secondary education up to the level of a Bachelors degree. ... Representation of a university class, 1350s. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles accessible from a disambiguation page. ... A high school senior is a student in the final year of secondary education in the United States and some other countries; generally 12 years after kindergarten or 17-18 years of age. ... is the 1st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Most colleges offer either an early decision program or an early action one. Early decision differs from early action in that it constitutes a binding commitment to enroll; that is, if offered admission under an early decision program the candidate must withdraw all other applications to other institutions and enroll at that institution. Early action is not binding, so a student admitted to a school early action could choose not to enroll in that school. Furthermore, early decision programs require applicants to file only one early application, while, depending on the institution, early action programs may allow candidates to apply to more than one early action institution. Early action is a type of early admission process for admission to colleges and universities in the United States. ... Early action is a type of early admission process for admission to colleges and universities in the United States. ...

All Ivy League colleges offer early decision programs except for Yale and Harvard University. Harvard, Princeton, the University of Florida, University of Virginia, and University of Delaware ceased to offer early admission options after 2006. For the record label, see Ivy League Records. ... “Yale” redirects here. ... Harvard University (incorporated as The President and Fellows of Harvard College) is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA and a member of the Ivy League. ... Princeton University is a private coeducational research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States of America. ... The University of Florida (commonly referred to as Florida or UF) is a public land-grant, space-grant, research university located in Gainesville, Florida. ... The University of Virginia (also called U.Va. ... The University of Delaware (UD or UDel) is the largest university in the U.S. state of Delaware. ...

Possible outcomes of early decision

Typically, a candidate who has applied early decision can receive one of three outcomes in December. He or she may be admitted, in which case he or she is bound to attend the school which admitted him or her; rejected, in which case he or she will not be able to attend the school, but can apply early to another school; or deferred, in which case he or she will be reconsidered for admission with the second round of early decision applications or with the regular decision pool and notified later with their final decision.

Advantages of early decision

Admission rates for "early" applicants tend to be higher than the overall admission rates for the institution; this is particularly true of the most selective colleges. This is usually attributed to two factors: first, candidates who apply "early" can only present colleges with their transcripts until the end of junior year of high school and therefore must be particularly strong applicants with very persuasive transcripts; secondly, candidates who apply "early" have dedicated themselves to an institution and are more likely to match the institution's admission standards. It is proven that a student who applies and gets accepted using the early decision program is more likely to take on leadership roles on campus than a student who does not use the early decision program and gets accepted.

Disadvantages of early decision

Controversy surrounds early decision. Critics of the program think that binding an applicant, typically seventeen or eighteen years old, to a single institution is unnecessarily restrictive. Furthermore, candidates for financial aid are, if admitted under early decision, unable to compare financial aid offers from different colleges. It was in answer to these criticisms that, starting in 2009, Yale and Stanford will switch from early decision to single-choice early action. Harvard, Princeton, and Florida announced in the Fall of 2006 that they would no longer offer Early Action or Early Decision programs, which they claim favor the affluent. They will instead move to a single deadline which does not.^[1][2] For the Wikipedia policy regarding controversial issues in articles, see Wikipedia:Guidelines for controversial articles. ... Financial aid refers to funding intended to help students pay tuition or other costs, such as room and board, for education at a college, university, or private school. ... 2009 (MMIX) will be a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... YALE (Yet Another Learning Environment) is an environment for machine learning experiments and data mining. ... Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly known as Stanford University (or simply Stanford), is a private university located approximately 37 miles (60 kilometers) southeast of San Francisco and approximately 20 miles northwest of San José in Stanford, California. ... Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, and a member of the Ivy League. ... Princeton University is a private coeducational research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States of America. ... The University of Florida (commonly referred to as Florida or UF) is a public land-grant, space-grant, research university located in Gainesville, Florida. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

• College admissions
• Early action
• Rolling admission
• The Early Admissions Game: Joining the Elite

College admissions or university admission is the process through which students enter post-secondary education at universities and colleges. ... Early action is a type of early admission process for admission to colleges and universities in the United States. ... Rolling admission is a policy used by many colleges in the United States to admit freshmen to undergraduate programs. ...

References

1. ^ NPR: Harvard Ending Early Admissions Process
2. ^ Princeton: Princeton to end early admissions