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When filling out college applications, you will be presented with the choice of which decision round you’d like your application to be considered in. These decision rounds are commonly referred to as: Early Decision (ED), Early Action (EA), Restricted Early Action (REA) or Single-Choice Action, Early Decision II (ED II), Regular Decision (RD), and Rolling Admission. Not every school offers every option. So, what does this mean for you?

Early Decision

Students who apply in the Early Decision pool are often the first to find out if they have been accepted, rejected, or deferred from a school. Typically, ED students receive their decisions in December. Students applying Early Decision must submit their applications early, typically by mid-October to November 1st. Check with your target college or university to be sure of its specific due dates. When applying ED, students, parents, and the high school counselor sign a binding contract stating that the student will attend this school if they are accepted. Students may only apply ED to one school. The Early Decision pool of applicants is always smaller than the Regular Decision pool. However, many slots for this round are reserved for recruited athletes.

Early Action

Early Action is similar to Early Decision in that a student looking to apply in this round must submit their application early. The due date for this application round is typically November 1st, but varies depending on the school. Students applying EA also receive their decisions (accepted, rejected, or deferred) early, typically in December or January. The difference between EA and ED is that Early Action is non-binding, meaning if a student is accepted, they are not contractually obligated to attend. Students may apply to multiple schools in the EA round. Many students decide to submit one ED application and several EA applications. Some students choose not to apply ED so that they can compare financial aid and scholarship packages from multiple schools.

Restricted Early Action or Single-Choice Action

Restricted Early Action is an application round used mainly by the Ivy League. REA is like a cross between ED and EA. If a student is applying REA to a school, they must submit their application early, typically by November 1st. They also hear their decision early (accepted, rejected, deferred), typically by mid-December. If a student is applying REA, they must be careful and read the requirements of that school. All REA contracts state that a student may not apply ED or REA to any other institution, and some state that they may not apply EA to any other institution. However, some REA contracts state that students may apply to public universities through non-binding application rounds. In this case, a student may not apply REA Harvard and EA Drexel, but they may apply REA to Harvard and EA to University of Texas at Austin. Be careful here, and read the specific rules of the institution to which you’d like to apply REA.

Early Decision II

Early Decision II is a less-common decision round. Students may apply ED II by submitting their applications at the same time as or slightly earlier than the Regular Decision round (typically between mid-December and Jan 1). Students who apply ED II hear back from their schools in late winter or early spring (Feb-March). ED II is designed for students who may have been disappointed with the results from the early round of decisions, or who have had to take a little time to decide on which school is their first choice. Perhaps you needed to pull your grades up in the first semester of senior year to help your chances for your first choice school. ED II is binding, just like ED. If a student is accepted, they must attend. Students are permitted to submit other non-binding applications for regular decision or rolling admission at the same time as they submit their ED II application.

Regular Decision

Many students choose to submit the bulk of – or even all of – their applications at the regular decision deadline. This deadline is typically between Dec 15 and Jan 15. Be sure to check with each college on your list to ensure you’ve got the right due date. This is the largest applicant pool because students are able to submit as many applications as they wish in this round. Students who have received rejections or deferrals from their ED/EA schools must apply to other schools in the regular decision round to ensure they will attend college in the fall. Students who apply RD will receive their decisions in April or May, and will receive an acceptance, rejection, or a place on the wait list.

Rolling Admission

Some schools have no hard and fast deadlines at all. These schools take each application as it arrives and give a decision shortly after, typically within 6 weeks. Students receive either an acceptance or a rejection. For schools with rolling admission, applying earlier rather than later is a good idea, as once the class is filled, the institution will no longer accept applications.

A Note on Decisions

There are four main types of decisions a student may receive: Acceptance, Rejection, Deferral, or Wait List. Here is what they mean:

Acceptance: Congratulations! You have been offered a place in the incoming freshman class.

Rejection: Unfortunately, you will not be able to attend this institution. Rejections are not re-considered, and decisions are final.*

Deferral: The institution is unsure. Your application is good, and you have not been rejected outright. The admissions officers need more time to consider, and so your application will be considered alongside the other applicants in the regular decision round. You will receive a final decision at a later date.

Wait List: You have been offered a place on the wait list, meaning your application has not been rejected, but it also has not been accepted. If the number of students who accept their offer of admission is fewer than the spots available in the incoming class, the institution will notify students on the wait list that they have been accepted. You must respond with your intentions: do you wish to remain on the wait list, or have you been accepted to another institution that you would rather attend? If you do wish to remain on the wait list, there is still a (sometimes extremely high) chance you will not be accepted. You should accept a different school’s offer and secure your place while you wait to hear back from this institution.

*Some schools send a rejection letter that offers the student the opportunity to transfer after two years of study.

Deciding how you apply to each school is as much a strategy decision as choosing the schools that make up your list. If you are struggling, or even if you have a simple question, please call us at 212-360-2301 or send us an email at info@aristotlecircle.com. Our admissions experts are here to guide you every step of the way.