Early Decision Myth: Apply Early, Get In
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009There’s a growing trend for students to apply early decision or early action to their top choice schools. Fuelled by statistics promising double the regular decision acceptance rates, students pushing for the top elite schools are applying early in hopes of getting in.But is double the acceptance rate too good to be true?
Yes. Although some schools, like Amherst College, do boast such impressive statistics, many others, like Johns Hopkins University make a concerted effort to admit a similar proportion of students early as they do regular.
You also have to think of not only the acceptance rates, but the overall quality of the pool of applicants applying. Students who apply early decision or early action tend to be more motivated, have higher grades, and in general, are more likely to meet the school’s admissions criteria to begin with. This is because a student will have to do a lot more college planning and work on their college search to apply early. They also can’t count on any senior-year bird courses to boost their grades, as colleges won’t get to see their senior year transcript. So, the differences in college acceptance rates for early vs. regular applications can partly be explained by the differences in the quality of the application pool.
So don’t put all of your eggs in one basket yet. If you think you’d benefit from a little comparison shopping, or need an extra month on your college applications, nix applying early.
