Understanding Your College Application Options
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By mid to late fall of the senior year, you should reduce the college exploration list to schools to which you plan to apply. The application list should only include colleges you would gladly attend if admitted. There is no single time frame for this process; some students arrive at this point earlier in the year than others.
A good college list contains schools in three categories of Reach, Possible, and Likely. Most application lists contain three to eight schools; the average Blake student applies to five or six schools. Once your list is established, you are ready to begin the application process.
Application Options:
There are several application options including:
Early Action: Under Early Action, students apply for admission in the fall of the senior year, and the college notifies the student of the admission decision before calendar year-end. This is a non-binding process which means the applicant is not obligated to attend the college if accepted. Early Action allows students to receive other admission decisions from the regular application process before making a final college choice
Early Action Single Choice or Restricted Early Action: Like Early Action, students apply for admission early in the senior fall and receive the decision in December. While the applicant is not obligated to enroll in the college if admitted, the opportunity to apply to other colleges is limited. Your College Counselor will help you interpret the process for each college.
Early Decision: Early Decision is an application option in which an applicant agrees that if admitted, he or she will enroll in the college. Students also agree that they will not, upon acceptance, initiate applications to any other college, and will withdraw any outstanding applications. Early Decision deadlines can range from November 1 to January 15. Some colleges offer more than one Early Decision deadline. If accepted, your admission is binding. Early Decision candidates can only review one financial aid offer. If the offer is insufficient, most schools will release you from the binding contract. Early Decision is only appropriate for those students who are absolutely certain of their first college choice.
Regular Application: Most students apply for Regular admission. Regular application deadlines range from December 15th until March 1st with the majority due in January. Colleges notify most Regular applicants of the admission decision by early to mid April. Admission under this option is not binding. Regular Decision is best for students who want to consider a selection of schools, and several financial aid offers before making a final decision.
Rolling Admissions: Under Rolling Admission, colleges make admission decisions shortly (six to eight weeks) after receiving the application and the students are notified immediately. In some cases, if the admission office wishes to compare the applicant to later applicants, an application may be held and considered again at a later date. For colleges that offer Rolling admission, it is best to apply well before the final deadline, because space will fill. Once full, a college will not be able to consider new applications.
In addition to these primary application plans, there are other, less used, application options:
Deferred Enrollment: Under this option an admitted student is permitted to postpone enrolling in the college for one year in order to pursue alternate plans.
Immediate Decision: Some colleges offer this plan which allows the student to submit an application, and receive a decision on the same day.
Open Admissions: These colleges accept all applicants who apply, and often admit the student and register the student for classes at the same time.
How it all works
At every college, your academic record will be the most important information considered in your application. Some factors that affect the admission decision are within your control, such as contributions to school and community, leadership, personality, essay quality, and the interview. Other factors, which you can't influence, may include institutional priorities, the role of legacies, diversity, and developing winning athletic teams and can influence the outcome of your application. Here is how the admissions process works:
- Your application materials arrive at the college admission office; a file is created for you. This file, when complete, will include your application, transcript, standardized testing, recommendations, and other data supporting your candidacy. The completed application begins to work its way through the application reading process. It is the student's responsibility to make sure his or file is complete.
- Larger schools and state universities may use a formula that determines how an application is managed. These formulas are usually based on a combination of GPA and test scores and identifies students who are either clearly admissible or who fall short of the minimum admission criteria. If a student is not in either of these categories, admissions counselors review the file, make an admission recommendation, and refer the application to committee.
- At selective schools, there are usually two or three people who read the application, make notes and recommendations, and pass the file along to the Director of Admission for a final decision.
- At highly selective colleges an application is read at least twice, often three or four times. With each reading, the admission officer makes comments in the file that are later shared with the admission committee. When the application goes to committee, the admission officer responsible for Minnesota will usually "present" Blake's applicants. Some committees work toward consensus; others take a vote after discussion for a final decision. Admission officers reading your application and discussing it in committee use all the material in your file to evaluate your potential contribution as a student and community member.
- If the application is reviewed under "Early Decision/Action," students can be accepted, denied, or deferred. If it is a "Regular Decision" application, students may be admitted, denied, or waitlisted.
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