Or is it?
Mid to late December is a busy time in college admissions. You might think November 1 or May 1 are big dates–and they are. But the weeks between sending your early apps and hearing back from your schools might just drive you nuts. It doesn’t have to.
If you’ve worked with me, we’ve had a discussion about Early Action and Early Decision and if either option is right for you. Long story short, both options allow you to apply early to college and find out early. With either option, you don’t have to wait until late March or early April to know where you’re going next year. Early decision is binding, though, so if you get accepted you’re promising to attend. Early action isn’t binding. It allows you to hear from all of your schools and take your time to make a decision by May 1.
I have a confession to make: I don’t love early decision. It sounds great on paper. You can apply to one school, let them know they’re your dream school, and find out in just a few weeks if they love you as much as you love them. But in spite of these advantages for you, it’s fundamentally a system that favors the colleges themselves and wealthy families. How? Colleges benefit from early decision because they can use it to lock in their next year’s class. As much as 50% of incoming freshmen at certain colleges are accepted through early decision. This process means big money because it ensures that the number of offers colleges give to early decision applicants will yield big commitments and big tuition payments. Because it is binding, early decision means a 100% yield rate for those students: if they offer you a spot, you will accept it. (As a comparison, the average yield for colleges in the United States is around 30-33%.) But it doesn’t stop there. The “yield” number isn’t just a fun statistic that gives colleges bragging rights. While banks and lending institutions use multiple factors in their decision-making, a high yield rate can help a college gain lower interest rates when they need to borrow money–something that’s become increasingly necessary in recent years. Early decision applicants also commit to attend before they see any financial aid offers. You are often considered “full pay” when it comes to tuition, room and board, and fees. They don’t feel obligated to offer you any kind of scholarships because they know you’ll come either way. Finally, a college that’s your dream school in October of your senior year might not be your dream school by the end of senior year. It’s nice to give yourself time to change your mind. Early decision doesn’t leave any space for that. Sure, applying early decision can boost your chances of admission, but it also puts some restraints on you so use it with care.
So let’s say you have a “dream school” and you applied early decision. You’ve probably been on Reddit trying to find rumors of a notification date from last year that might even indicate a time–say, 4pm ET. You wait all day at school, checking your phone, fingers crossed. You get a notice that there’s a message in your portal. It’s happening!
You got in — congrats! Pat yourself on the back and enjoy the moment. Celebrate and do the happy dance. Send a thank you to the teachers and counselors who helped you with your application. And then, a couple of days later, get back to reality. Take your finals, celebrate the holidays, and rest up for next semester. And try to stay realistic when you land on campus in the fall. Even a dream school can have its flaws. That’s ok. You’ll make it your own.
You got rejected — boo! Take a day or two to grieve. It’s ok to feel worthless and lost. It’s hard to feel good when the answer is a no. Do a little self-care, pick yourself up, and consider your other options. Hopefully you have a good list of other schools. Keep working on those applications (or start!) and imagine yourself at one or more of those places. Your second or third or fourth choice is probably a great option. As Edna Mode says in “The Incredibles”: “I never look back, darling. It distracts from the now.”
You got deferred or wait-listed — I hate these options almost as much as I hate early decision. Being deferred means you get dumped into the regular pool of applicants and will be considered alongside them. Being wait-listed means you’ll have to wait until your college sends out its early and regular offers, hears back from those students, and has some spots remaining that need to be filled to complete the freshman class. They pull names from the wait list to fill those spots. Both deferrals and wait-lists are essentially the limbo of college admissions and you might have very good or very bad odds of ultimately getting an acceptance depending on the school and its policies. One great place to find out if your deferral or wait-list decision has any chance of turning into an acceptance is here: https://commondataset.org/. The Common Data Set is a collection of admissions data from many colleges in the United States. It lists the number of students placed on the wait list vs. the number of students ultimately offered a spot. If it says, for example, what one of my students’ schools said (1000 on the wait list, 4 offered a spot), put that dream school firmly in the rear-view mirror. If your odds are better, you should still go ahead with a good mindset about your remaining colleges.
The concept of a dream school and early decision is kind of like a soul mate. Some people think that there’s one person out there that’s perfect for them. Some people think that there’s only one college. If you’ve worked with me or read other posts here, you’ll know that I don’t see it that way. I went to a college that wasn’t my early decision school (that school wait-listed me) and I fell in love with my second choice. My second choice, in other words, became my dream school. It was ultimately where I found my community and where I grew into the human being I wanted to become. The college you go to will be amazing not because of the college, but because of you. It’s in your power to make any place your dream school.
With apologies to Tom Petty, the hardest part might not be waiting for a decision. It might be getting a negative response from a college and finding your way through that disappointment. And 30 years down the road, I bet you won’t even remember your original dream school. I’m looking at you, Middlebury 😉
The Brass Ring 