IF a college is your clear top choice AND you have a stellar record with little or no room for improvement in grades and scores AND you are willing to work fast and hard on your essays AND your college confers a clear advantage in acceptance on early applicants, THEN applying early may make sense!  Read on....

Pros

• Both Early Action and Early Decision confer some advantage in admissions at most schools, Early Decision more so than Early Action. CAVEATS: The advantage typically diminishes with the selectivity of the colleges. At very selective colleges, the increase in percentage accepted under early plans may be misleading. Athletes and legacy students are frequently encouraged to apply early to boost their chances of being admitted. In addition, other early decision and early action candidates are usually very qualified, so it's harder to make an application stand out. But the decision to apply early does send a strong signal of your interest in the college. It’s important to note that Early Action plans often confer minimal advantage, even at relatively non-selective schools.
• If your early application is successful, you avoid months of nervous waiting.
• You avoid some of the college admission hassle if you are accepted.
• Applying early makes you get started earlier in the fall.

Cons

• The application process is significantly more rushed with an early plan, robbing students of valuable time to spend pondering the best fit or their interests and abilities. With Early Decision this is especially true, and students sometimes experience “buyer’s remorse” once accepted.
• Because early admissions decisions are not announced until the middle of December, students still have to proceed throughout the fall as though they are not going to be accepted. They will have to get counselors and teachers to write letters, order transcripts, arrange interviews, and even write some essays (or run the risk of spending all of Winter Break writing them!).
• Early applicants must also submit financial aid paperwork early!
• Students admitted early will have less time to make educational and financial decisions and less time to explore their options. Also, by committing to one school, students rule out other schools that may offer more attractive financial aid packages.
• Students applying early aren’t able to improve their profiles with senior year grades and activities.
• Students have fewer opportunities for retesting before submitting an early application.
• Student who are rejected or deferred early are also discouraged at just the time they need to be motivated to do well in school, in their activities, and on their other applications.

Printable Forms

Information Request Tracker

Application Checklist

Individual College Application Tracker

Essay Checklist

Interview Checklist

Recommendation Checklist

Junior Checklist

Senior Checklist