Early Action, Early Decision, Regular Decision, Waitlist-新东方前途出国

Ah, it is that wonderful time of the year again.  It is college application season.   This is the time when family are struggling to decide whether they want to apply early decision or early.

If your school offers early decision and early action.  The only one you should apply to is early decision.  Why?  That is because any offers that a school extends that is not accepted hurts the yield, resulting a lower US News ranking next year.  So, if a school has a choice to make an offer to a student apply early decision or early action, the school will predominately choose early decision.

Then, should I apply early action, the answer is yes.

Early action school typically gives you a result between late December to mid-January.  So, you will know if you have a school to attend before Chinese New Year.  That is important for most people.

Finally, if I get accepted for early action, does that hurt me in anyway?  No! US schools does not ask you to confirm your decision until May 1st for most non-early decision applicants who were admitted.  So, once you get an offer, you can sit back and wait to see what is the best offer that comes in.

What happens if you get on the waitlist? Do your research!  Some school only accepts single digits number of students off the waitlist.  Some school does not accept any at all.  If you get waitlisted, make sure you research the school, so you have a better idea of your chance.

Finally, wish you a successful application season.