College & University Information

The College-Bound Students Early Bird Menu


Many parents and students I counsel confuse Early Admission, Early Read, Early Decision, Early Action and Early Notification. How these and the other admission strategies listed below are used, will determine the course of the student's college years. Understanding them is an absolute must!

Early Admission: Typically, the student applies to college at the beginning of the junior year and simply goes through the process earlier. However, Early Admission is seldom used as it only applies to the most exceptional students who complete all high school requirements prior to the 12th grade, or even earlier. Although it is not binding, I strongly recommend that the student demonstrate a college level of social and emotional maturity before implementing this strategy. Schools often get into a bidding contest to recruit the truly exceptional student, some offering full scholarships for the privilege of having such an accomplished student on their campus! Nonetheless, use with extreme caution!

Early Read: A number of colleges will offer to calculate a family's EFC, (the expected family contribution; the minimum amount determined by the federal government that a family will pay at any college for each student). This is done without obligating the student to apply to their school. Simply send them all your financial information at the beginning of the 12th grade! Sounds like a good deal, right? Wrong! Wherever possible, keep the schools and the federal government out of your wallet! If the student eventually decides to apply to that school, the aid offer has already been predetermined. Surely, you wouldn't feel comfortable having the IRS calculate your taxes, so why would you have a college determine your EFC? Avoid this at all costs! Failure to heed this advice will result in paying thousands more than you had to for a college education!

Early Decision: This is a program with earlier deadlines and notification dates than the regular decision process. Students who apply for an Early Decision program commit to attending that school and only that school. This is a binding contract restricting the student to that one school. Once accepted, the student must notify all other schools applied to and request that their application be withdrawn. There is however, an upside. If money is not an issue, and the family will not be applying for financial aid, Early Decision is highly recommended, because it will give the student a decisive advantage in the admissions process! On the other hand, if financial aid is an issue, the danger is that the student must attend that college regardless of the financial aid offered! While Early Decision adds some leverage to being accepted, the financial consequences can be devastating because the student must accept the school's financial aid package no matter how inadequate it might be! I only recommend Early Decision under very specific circumstances. Also, if you change your mind, rescinding an Early Decision acceptance doesn't sit well with the schools. This option should only be used with extreme caution.

Early Decision II: Offered by some schools, it is virtually identical to Early Decision except the application deadlines are later, usually January 1st. As with Early Decision, only one school can be applied to. I'm not an advocate of this one either. Follow the Early Decision criteria above and proceed accordingly.

Early Action: Except for Early Decision candidates, I encourage all students to apply for Early Action. Students apply from September 15th to January 1st, and notices usually go out between December 15th and January 31st, (dates may vary). Applying for Early Action has one definite advantage. Since the competition is so fierce, the sooner a student applies the better. For the barely qualified student, this is the only way to go. It would be highly unlikely such a student would qualify in the general applicant pool, as they would be competing against far too many honor students and would pale by comparison. Also, students apply to college at the beginning of the senior year, and any grades beyond mid-term may not count at all! Always implement this strategy! Early Notification: This is similar to Early Action, except that some schools might also ask for a commitment to their financial aid package well in advance of the traditional May 1st deadline. Unless they make an offer you can't refuse, ask them to extend their deadline until the family has had sufficient time to consider all offers from the schools the student has been accepted to. I would strongly advise against negotiations because the student will be at a serious disadvantage with no other offers to compare and accepting could be a very costly mistake! Avoid this like the plague!

Open Admissions: Some four year, most two year and virtually all community colleges will offer all applicants admission on a come-as-you-are basis. If they have room, as long as you have a high school diploma - you're in! Implement when available.

Rolling Admissions: (I've saved the best for last.) This is a most advantageous school policy for applicants, as colleges offering Rolling Admissions will notify students of their status within a few weeks of receiving all necessary application documents. They usually accept students until such time as their quotas have been satisfied. Check the admissions policies of the schools you're applying to and by all means implement this strategy whenever and wherever available.

This is one of a series of articles by college admissions and financial aid expert, Reecy Aresty, based on his book, "Getting Into College And Paying For It!" For further information or to contact him, please visit www.thecollegebook.com.

For almost three decades, financial advisor & lecturer Reecy Aresty, has helped thousands of families to protect their assets, increase their wealth, and reduce their taxes. During the 1980's, he turned his attentions to the complex world of college admissions and financial aid. By the end of the decade, he was already saving his clients thousands of dollars on a college education!

He has authored, "Getting Into College And Paying For It," also available in Spanish. Filled with trade secrets and insider information, it offers solutions for high school and college families guaranteed to give students the all-important edge in admissions, and parents countless legal ways to reduce college costs.

In 2004 alone, Reecy saved families hundreds of thousands of dollars! He has become a major factor in obtaining affordable, quality educations for America's students. In doing so, he has restored the faith people used to have in one another by proving that there are still people who care, people who can be trusted, and people who actually do what they promise - and get results!


MORE RESOURCES:

Los Angeles Times

For some college freshmen, the first day of school comes a bit late
Los Angeles Times, CA - 16 hours ago
Robin Bohnen, left, jokes with her daughter Kelsi Bohnen, right, as Kelsi moves into her freshman dorm at USC. Robin has twins attending their freshman year ...


2008 KHHS valedictorian heads for Princeton
Lake Region Monitor, FL - 4 hours ago
Bristow moved to Keystone Heights from Michigan when he was 10 years old. His parents, Bob and Karen Bristow, own Ace Hardware in Hawthorne. ...


Northland's NewsCenter

Ripon College president rethinks drinking age
Chicago Tribune, United States - Aug 20, 2008
AP RIPON, Wis. - Ripon College's president has signed a national initiative to reconsider the 21-year-old drinking age. Ripon president David Joyce is the ...
The drinking age debate Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
Consider lowering drinking age to 18, college presidents say Indianapolis Star
Group wants 18-year-olds to drink alcohol, legally WLFI.com
Tallahassee Democrat - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
all 1,309 news articles


Loyola College in Maryland Changes Name, Angers Alumni
CollegeOTR, NY - 8 hours ago
By Mild-Mannered Rambler (Chief Contributor) The Loyola College in Maryland is changing its name to Loyola University Maryland in late August, ...
Loyola College to become Loyola University Maryland WTOP
all 17 news articles


College notes
BurlingtonFreePress.com, VT - 15 hours ago
The University of Vermont men's soccer team was picked to repeat as America East Conference champions. The Catamounts topped the preseason coaches' poll, ...
College roundup BurlingtonFreePress.com
all 6 news articles


WWL

A new suit seeks to reopen Tulane women's college
WXVT, MS - 20 hours ago
AP - August 20, 2008 11:14 PM ET NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A descendant of the founder of 1 of the nation's oldest degree-granting colleges for women has filed a ...
A new suit seeks to reopen Tulane women's college KATC
Descendant of 19th-Century Donor Sues Tulane Over Dissolution of ... Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription)
all 22 news articles


Laurentian University acknowledges Georgian College’s growth
Orillia Packet & Times, Canada - 6 hours ago
Georgian College’s Orillia campus will have even more students this fall walking it’s ever increasing hallways, according to Dave Dubois, ...


Bernardez: Inclusive education
Sun.Star, Philippines - 6 hours ago
By Dr. Roque Q. Bernardez THE SLU Institute for Inclusive Education was established at the end of 2006 to promote inclusive education. ...


Deaths & Funerals
Times Colonist, Canada - 7 hours ago
In 1960 Fred joined the newly established Faculty of Arts at Huron College, University of Western Ontario, where he was successively Head of the Psychology ...


DU asked not to meddle in St. Stephen’s principal selection
SINDH TODAY, Pakistan - 10 hours ago
New Delhi, Aug 21 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Thursday asked the St. Stephen’s College to appoint its full-time principal within eight weeks and directed ...

College-University - Google News

home | site map
Web Site Development - Search Engine Marketing: Dream Team Media