Picking colleges can become stressful and daunting, especially when you find out that there is more than one way to apply! You read a pamphlet that mentions something called Early Decision, and wonder what that is, and whether or not it’s an option to consider. A large fraction of American colleges (a percentage hovering in the teens) offers ED applications.

Students who choose to apply early decision can be aided in their admissions process. If you’re wondering what it is and if it’s for you, and have also heard the terms “Early Action and Early Decision II” floating around, here are 11 things you’ll definitely want to know.

Some Terminology:

• ED: Early Decision
• RD: Regular Decision
• EA: Early Action
• ED II: Early Decision II

1) You should consider applying Early Decision if a) it is for certain your top choice and b) you have more than just a decent chance of getting in. Since academic performance is more than slightly important in determining your chance of acceptance, your grades should be above adequate.

It is often worth waiting until the Regular Decision deadline to apply if you take a few more months to improve your academic standing.

As more students become aware of this option and as more colleges adopt this policy, the statistics are sky-rocketing; schools are reporting record number of early applicants, which is a real-time factor to consider in making your decision.

2) An ED applicant demonstrates 100% commitment and generally shows much more interest in a college, which in turn increases the likelihood of acceptance, since it’s all about whether or not the student and the college are a great fit for each other.

Applying Early Decision is a major step in showing a college that they are more important than every other college you’re considering. It can be a result of a student researching an institution deeply, meeting with professors, graduates, or students, and taking a tour of the campus.

If Accepted:

3) Acceptance is binding, except in the case of a major change in financial ability; if a family is unable to pay the tuition, the student can opt out. Of course, colleges don’t openly advertise this.

4) Students accepted ED get less leeway in financial aid, since they don’t have any other acceptances with which they can compare. Essentially, what you get is what you get. However, most college websites have online calculators to help your family determine if you will be able to afford tuition.

In the past, this has been disadvantageous for some students, who have been able to directly show financial aid departments scholarships that they have received from other schools in order to coax more aid money offered by a school.

5) To state the obvious, you will know months ahead where you will be attending college, compared to your other friends who apply regular decision. April 1st will come and go and you’ll just stand on the sidelines as everyone stresses over which college to pick. It will be surreal, but your second semester of high school will be comparably much less dramatic.

If deferred:

6) The ED aspect no longer applies; you can still apply RD to other schools and be considered RD for your top-choice. If accepted, you are not required to attend that school.

If Rejected:

7) The college is no longer an option. They will not consider you again for the regular decision process. This means that a rejection (which you will most likely receive in December) leaves you with approximately two weeks to complete your Regular Decision applications.

Pro-tip: acknowledge that ED acceptance is not certain and begin RD applications before your ED outcome arrives. In the college process, it’s best to be safe than sorry.

Comparing ED:

8) ED vs. EA – Early Action is similar, except that it shows less commitment because it is not binding; the student merely receives a decision earlier but still gets until the May 1st date to decide, weighing the decisions from the RD round. In comparison, a higher percentage of colleges allow students to apply EA versus ED.

There are two types of Early Action options: regular, and single-choice. Regular allows you to apply to more than one EA school, and single-choice only allows you to apply EA to one school, though you can apply regular to other schools and still have until the May 1st deadline to decide.

9) ED I vs. ED II: Some schools offer the option to apply ED II, which is something to consider if you’ve either not been accepted to your first choice or just recently decided on a college after the ED I deadline already passed. The deadlines for ED II and RD are very similar, but admissions offices consider the Early Decision II applicants before those in the Regular Decision pool, because the goal is to find as many certain students as possible, to achieve their yearly enrollment standards.

Beware:

10) ED is not a way to escape stress; you’ve got to make sure that this college is your top-choice, not just a choice made on a whim.

11) Senioritis can really set in after an acceptance. You’ll feel a sense of false completion that can lead to a serious academic dip or an inappropriate acting out that can lead to a rescinding of an acceptance, with or without a warning.

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