Early vs Regular? Action vs Decision? — Understanding the Rounds
What is Early Action?
How is it different from Early Decision?
What does it mean to be ‘restricted?’
If you haven’t yet, searching for your dream university’s application deadline will likely lead immediately to some unfamiliar terms, such as “early action” and “regular decision.” While the terms at first can be quite confusing, let’s make things really simple to clearly grasp what each round means. Though some might categorize differently, in general there are two major rounds of first-year undergraduate admission: the Early Round and the Regular Round.
When it comes to neurodivergent students who are looking for universities and colleges that provide various levels of LD/ND support, it is especially important to understand the timing of rounds to conduct enough research, meet faculty and peers, and so on.
THE EARLY ROUND
(Deadline: usually early-to-mid October)
First-year undergraduate admissions start with the (slightly tricky) Early Round.
The Early Round is named as such because it happens very early into your senior year, which means two things: 1) you don’t have as much time to develop your best application, and 2) GPA from your senior year’s first semester will not be considered.
Because it is not the Regular Round, not all colleges and universities offer Early Round admission. Furthermore, different schools often have different ‘types’ of Early Round admission, so it is absolutely important to understand the significant differences among them.
While specific stats differ among colleges and universities, generally acceptance rate is quite higher for early round than regular round.
The Early Round is especially important for neurodivergent students with individualized interests and needs, because it is not only when the schools can afford to provide much more individualized attention, but also preferred by schools that truly promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. In many cases with proper preparation, neurodivergent students with individualized needs can easily secure admission before/during the Early Round.
Early Action (EA)
NON-RESTRICTIVE EARLY ACTION (NEA): when people say “Early Action,” they usually mean NEA. You may apply to as many NEA schools as you want. Upon receiving admission, you may then choose whether to accept, reject, or defer. (This is often referred to as “non-binding.”)
RESTRICTIVE EARLY ACTION (REA): Employed most famously by Harvard, REA is the same with NEA in that it is non-binding. However, as the name suggests, you may apply to only one REA.
Early Decision (ED, ED1)
“Decision” instead of “action” means you are promising in advance that, if granted admission, you will enroll. (binding)
As such, you may apply to only one program for ED1. (restrictive)
THE REGULAR ROUND
(Deadline: usually around December and ongoing)
While the Early Round is generally for the more selective universities and colleges, all schools have a uniform system when it comes to the Regular Round.
Regular Action (RA)
This is the ‘main’ round of college admissions.
You may apply to as many programs as you want. (Non-restrictive)
Upon admission, you may choose whether to accept, reject, or defer. (Non-binding)
You may wait until the national response date (May 1) to make your final decision
Early Decision 2 (ED2)
An increasing number of ED schools, such as Johns Hopkins, allow students to commit to their program in the regular round as well.
This is referred to as “ED2” – a curveball that confuses a lot of students. In reality, there’s nothing “early” about ED2, because its deadline is generally the same as the program’s regular round deadline. Therefore, it’s much easier to think of ED2 as “Regular Decision.”
Same as ED1, you are promising in advance that, if granted admission, you will enroll. (binding)
Same as ED1, as such, you may apply to only one program for ED2. (restrictive)
Neurodivergent students with individualized needs should take close advantage of ED2, as it more likely allows for them to get an opportunity to have personal communication with admissions (i.e., interview, additional submission request, …)
Rolling Admission
Some schools do not have a set deadline for applications, and will continue receiving them until all seats are filled or there are no more candidates to offer admissions to, whichever comes first.
