Understanding Application Deadlines: Early Decision I,II, Early Action, Restrictive, Rolling, and more

Webinar Transcription

2023-10-05 – Understanding Application Deadlines – Early Decision I/II, Early Action, Restrictive, Rolling, and more

Lonnie: Hello, everyone. Welcome to CollegeAdvisor’s webinar, “Understanding Application Deadlines: Early Decision 1 and 2, Early Action, Restrictive Rolling, and more.” To orient everyone with the webinar timing, we are first going to begin with a presentation, and then we’ll have the opportunity to answer your questions and then live Q& A.

But before we get started, let’s now meet our panelist.

Joanne: Hi, everyone. My name is Joanne Pluff. I’m a former admissions officer at Hamilton and Utica College, and now I serve as an associate vice president at a university here in Washington, D.C.

Lonnie: Um, so before we do the presentation, now you’ve been able to meet your panelists, we would like to do our first poll and we want to know what grade you are in.

This allows us the opportunity to find moments to speak directly to our audience based on the grade level. So let us know. Okay, I see the responses are coming in. All right. So we have 69 percent of our audience right now are in the 12th grade, followed by that we have 23 percent 11th grade and then we have 8 percent other.

So 11, 12 and other are currently represented in the webinar. So I will turn it over to you to get started. And what are the two main admission timelines?

Joanne: Thank you. So, um, for our 12th graders, congratulations, you’ve done it. So just graduating and being at that point, um, of graduate of near graduation high school is such a feat.

So congratulations to you. Also, congratulations to your parents. You did it. You have a college bound student, which is super exciting. So here at CollegeAdvisor, we like to think, um, that there are two main admission timelines and They really, um, I would say anchor the application season. So typically, the 1st set of applications will be due sometime early November, right before Thanksgiving.

And then, of course, the last set will be due right around that February timeline, unless you’re doing a school or applying to a school that has rolling admissions. There is always, like I say, in the PowerPoint, an exception to the rule. For students who are applying to Auburn, that deadline has passed. It was around the middle of September.

As well, the Florida in state, um, does have some very, very challenging timelines for students who are not prepared. However, if you live in Florida, they start school sooner, so perhaps It’s just right on par with all of these deadlines is to remain calm and definitely to be as organized as possible. We really, um, try to share with our students just some tips for being as organized.

But most of it bases around a great spreadsheet on gathering as much information as you can about the universities you’re applying. So the tough part with admissions and the college admissions process is there are so many different acronyms and different words that we may refer to. So I want to go over some of the different application types.

And then we can get into talking about your specific questions. So Lonnie is on the back end with the Q and A. If you send me a private message, I likely won’t be able to read it, but I’ll do the best I can to address any questions that do pop up. So when we’re talking about applications, there is early decision.

One and two early action, restrictive, single choice and then rolling admissions. So let’s talk about the difference between early action and single choice early action. So single choice is exactly what it says. Um, with any kind of early action application, it means that you’re not in that binding contract.

So whereas early decision means you apply to that school, you have to attend. Single choice and early action means. You aren’t, you aren’t bound to attend the school. However, it is early notification. If you are applying to single a school that single choice early action, it means that you can’t apply to any other school early action or early decision.

And again, it is a non binding application, but it is just really early notification. Early action itself means students can apply to as many early action schools as they want to. It’s non binding. And then again, of course, the early notification. If I had to say, um, every student that I was, that I work with, I would have them apply early action because really you get that decision right before the end of the new year.

So it’s like a quick burn. You work on your applications throughout the month of September, October, the beginning of November, and then right before the end of the holiday season in January, you really do get, um, some great decisions. Restrict restrictive early action versus early decision. So you can only apply to one school restrictive early action.

And again, it’s non binding. So the common theme with early action versus early decision. It’s always going to be some type of binding contract. Early action is never going to be binding, but it sounds like and there they provide for you. Some different parameters early decision. You can apply to 1 school 1 school only.

If you are admitted to that school, it means you have to attend. So, um. I know that seems like a really daunting thing to put on a 17 year old, especially if you’re, you know, looking at your young person next to you on the couch, and it is, it is a pretty big decision. It is the largest indicator of your interest in that school.

It means that you love it. It means that you can financially afford it. And should you be admitted, those schools really do expect you to attend. So if you are considering applying early decision, Definitely make sure that you do all of your research research so that should the decision become a positive one, um, it’s the best decision for you.

So I often get this question when I’m talking to students, um, that are applying to highly selective schools. So does applying early affect a student’s chance of being accepted? So yes, um, early action, early decision are the number one indicators of a student’s interest within, um, the application process.

So perhaps you visited, maybe you’ve spoken with someone. If you are signed, sealed, delivered, and you match their GPA, SAT requirements, why would they not want to admit you? The other thing as well is, as many students as there are in the country applying to go to college, the application pools for early action and early decision are usually significant.

So when an admissions officer sits down to read your application, it’s likely that you’re in that first round of application decisions, which is good. And it definitely increases, increases your chances of admission at a highly selective school. For some schools that I’ve worked at, um, about 50 percent of their class come from early action or early decision.

So if you have the option, it’s definitely something that you should look into, especially if it’s a school that you’ve really fallen in love with.

So when we talk about early action, early decision, um, I think everything definitely has a pro. Um, to me, the biggest pro of early decision is you’re telling the school, this is where I want to be. I know that this, this place is going to make me the person I want to be in four years. So again, the Biggest indicator of demonstrated interest without having to, you know, write, uh, have a plane fly in the sky, um, telling them that you’re interested again.

It also ensures that you’ll have your decision by the close of the year. Typically, early decision, early action application decisions come around the middle of December, December 25th. So it’s a great piece of email for you to get right before you celebrate the holiday. And then, of course, if you’re applying to perhaps engineering schools or a school where, um, it’s tough to get into, maybe it’s a conservatory that they have limited seats, applying an early decision definitely gives you a spot earlier in the class.

Therefore, if it’s a high demand major, you’ll be able to secure your spot sooner than others and perhaps the regular decision pool.

Lonnie: Okay, we’re going to take a pause. from our presentation because we want to get more information about you. So we want to know where are you in the college application process. So we know that our audience tonight is majority 12th grade and 11th grade students. So let us know where you are. And I am starting to see the responses coming in.

I’m going to give it one more moment.

Joanne: I’m praying that haven’t started are not seniors, because while we still have time, it just does make things a little bit more stressful.

Lonnie: Absolutely, it does, it does. Um, alrighty, I think we have a good post on where our audience is at. So it looks like most of our audience are currently getting their application materials together, which is awesome.

And then we have 28 percent that are working on their essays, 19 percent currently researching about 12, 12 percent is almost done, which I want to salute you and congratulate you on being almost done.

Joanne: Um, and

Lonnie: just a small percentage, 9 percent haven’t started, but I’m pretty sure after tonight’s conversation, they’re going to be ready to start.

Joanne: Absolutely. So just like there are pros to, um, early action or early action, I’m sorry, decision. There are also some cons to early decision. So this is a binding contract. It is pretty serious. It means that I, if I was your guidance counselor or your parent, all of those people have to sign this application.

So again, if you love a school and this is your number one, we, Always say go after your if you’re between a couple a sport, it means that yo to that school if you’re kind of the tough thing w is while you’re in the, i of all the applications, Only really committed to one school at that time. You can only prepare to send one early, um, decision.

Application. The question always comes up and I’m sure it will here. Well, how will the schools know? So Common App will know and Common App will notify us, right? So if you’re applying to school that’s using the Common app, don’t try to trick the system even if they have their own application. You don’t wanna be that person.

Schools talk to each other. That’s something that I’m sure any other admission officer would report to another school. We don’t want you to be shed upon in a negative light. So, really, you can only apply to one school. And, of course, you are obligated to attend. So there are very few ways for students to get out of an early decision contract.

Sometimes, um, that’s left up to the dean of admission or the V. P. for admission. It really is up to the school. So, if you found the school that you love. Go for it. If you are teetering between, this is not a good option for you. The earlier deadline also does come into play for some students. So like we said, we’re hoping that those who haven’t started are not our seniors.

However, if you are, um, you really need to seriously consider if this is what you want to do. Typically, early decision applications are due November 1st. That gives you less than one month to do that, um, meaning less than one month to clean up your entire application and prepare for somebody to review it.

If you are a student that struggled with SATs, ACTs, or maybe AP courses, and you were hoping to retake, early decision does mean that you definitely had less time to do so. Or perhaps you took the September, you weren’t happy with your scores, and now you’re going to be rushing to get that done. Not a bad thing.

A lot of schools are test optional, but again, it is something that needs to be considered when applying to early decision to any school. Then of course there are cons or pros, sorry, of applying early action. So like I was saying before, this is the non binding application. So you can apply early, early action until your heart’s desire.

It’s early notification of acceptance or denial, which gives you time to pivot. So let’s say you had your heart set on University of Joanne. And they waitlisted you. Now you have time to finish cultivating the rest of your list. As most colleges, regular enrolling applications are due at some point between January and February.

Again, just like early decision, there is a higher acceptance rate for our students applying early action. And to me, I think it’s less stressful. So while the deadline may be around November 15th ish, um, November 1st, I really wanted extra time to prepare just to be a college student, as silly as that sounds, I wanted extra time to look for the bedding that I wanted.

I played a sport, so it was important for me to be able to see how the schools did. I played a fall sports. I wanted to see how they did in the fall. Um, and then, you know, when the decision started coming in, It gave me time to visit and reassess, um, and really figure out the things that I wanted in the college that I wanted to attend.

So for me early, I applied only early action schools, um, and I think it really does benefit for parents who are planners. If you have triplets, if you have a lot of college bound students, it definitely gives your family more time to prepare for any of those curveballs that might come at you. And then any of the cons of applying early action.

I am being pretty serious when I say there are very few. I would say the deadline itself might be a con just because it is just usually a couple days or if not the same day as early action or sorry, early decision, but there are very few cons of early action because it’s the same benefit early notification, smaller application pool.

So high demonstrated interest. You just aren’t held to going there. If you’re not admitted to that school. And then, of course, we can talk a little bit about regular decision. So, regular decision applications are typically due after the new year. So, for those juniors, seniors, those who are just starting the college process, typically around January and February are the regular decision deadlines.

And then, of course, rolling means the school will take applications until the class is full. So, with regular decision, you would theoretically get four more months to prepare your application. Four more months for testing and four more months to do research and career exploration. So if truly you don’t know what you want to do, don’t feel bad if you’re not applying early action or early decision.

You still have regular decision. Many colleges only have regular decision. So you’re not at a deficit. All we’re saying is it might make it easier if you have an option to do early action. I would take that option. And then the cons of regular decision. Um, it’s just later notification. So typically for your larger universities, notification of decision usually takes about a month for them to read through the applications.

For example, my university, we released decisions for regular decision right after spring break, which is the middle of March, the National College deposit deadline day for everywhere across the country here in the United States is May 1st. So if you’re getting your decision around March, it means you have only about a month and a half to make your decision on where you want to be.

For some students, that’s okay. Um, for those who feel like they’re going to have a lot of choices to make, that may not work for them. Every student is different. Every circumstance is different. Every financial situation is different. So it’s really about picking what’s right for you.

And then how can students figure out the best course of action? Um, I think this This is a tricky one for young people, especially if your parents are closely, um, involved in the application process. So parents, I’ll caution and say, you know, this is an amazing decision that we are giving the students and it’s the four years where they get to figure out who they are and who they’re going to be when they grow up.

So it’s important to make sure that we’re empowering our students to Figure out what really is the best university for them. So I always tell my students, you know, we’ll go over our lists and Lonnie will tell you, you go over your list 100 times. You can, you know, edit, keep editing, check it out, but it’s important to talk with your family and figure out what is the best course of action because there may be some things that as a student, you don’t know.

And aren’t able to understand, considering when your family has a few college students, definitely take a look at your testing. Um, and a lot of our conversations, we talk about your target school, your safety school and your reach school, make sure that if you are a student, that’s applying to colleges that.

are not SAT or ACT optional, that you’ve done the best that you can do. And if the best that you can do falls within those ranges, excellent. Figure out the best course of testing, um, evaluation of your academics based on the, um, type of application you’re submitting. So perhaps you have maybe a lower score, but you have a really high GPA.

You may want to consider applying early action, early decision, because it will be best for you. For you. And then, of course, for our student athletes, it’s important to take athletic recruitment into consideration. Some universities require if a student is being, um, recruited for a full scholarship that they submit a specific kind of, um, application type.

So it really depends on the circumstance. We could, what if the heck out of this for hours and hours, but take a look, talk with your family, evaluate your testing, make sure that your list has a balance of target reach and safety schools, and then go with what you feel is the best decision for you.

So the last advice I would give to students deciding between early and regular applications is to me. It truly is about organization. Um, you can’t be all over the place with this process because it can get very overwhelming really quickly. And I think. The sooner your student is organized and has a plan, the better the family life will be.

So any of these options are excellent options for students, but you have to pick what’s right for your student. So I always push my students to do the most early action applications that they can, but maybe your family, you know, you need more time to get things together. Don’t push your student. If doing one early action school works for you all and gives you time to you.

Figure out on the back end, how you’re going to pay for the applications, you know, where the student really wants to go do what works for the family. And then, of course, you do have to take into consideration finances. Every university has a net price calculator on their website. I implore you all to go and look at the net price calculator, especially for those who are applying early decision.

This will give you a general idea of what your family would be paying for college and. This is really helpful. So most of the students that I advise, we create a massive spreadsheet. We highlight it’s color coded. It’s all these fantastic things, and it holds a lot of this information. So be organized, try to do one early application.

And then, of course, make sure that it’s something that your family can afford, because it would be the worst to apply to your dream school and find out that your family cannot afford it.

Lonnie: Okay, thank you. Now we’re going to move into our live questions and answers. So on your screen, you should be able to see a Q and a that is where you will place your questions for our panelists to be able to answer them. If you notice that the tab isn’t working, it’s not letting you submit a question. Um, try logging out and then logging back in through the custom tab.

The link that was sitting your email. And then also I want to let you know that we do have the handout for our presentation this evening and you’re able to download that from our handout tab. So moving to our first question, um, this question reads, and this is from our, um, registration, um, a question that was submitted.

I was under the impression that it was always advantageous for a student to apply early action over a regular decision. However, I recently heard that a student might want to apply a regular decision if they are applying to a safety school. Is there any truth in this? I

Joanne: don’t think so. Um, I think applying early puts you in a smaller pool, right?

So, for example, the university I work at, we received 35,000 applications last year. The regular decision and early decision, I’m sorry, the early decision and early action pools totaled around 7,000 students. So, you’re automatically competing against less students to be admitted to the university. So, Applying early always means first looks fresh eyes like this is a human process, right?

So people truly don’t believe that we actually read all the applications. I think my team reads each application like 7 to 8 times. So imagine now, you know, we get to regular decision and that’s the. Around 28,000 applications. You’re tired, and we are human. And as much as we can keep the excitement and the energy going, it is a human process.

So I always recommend applying in whatever stage you can, if you can do early action, early decision. I think it really does benefit the student.

Lonnie: Great. Great. Um, is there a limit on how many schools you can apply to early action or is it unlimited?

Joanne: You can apply unlimited to any amount of early action schools.

If it is single choice early action, you can only apply to one school. If it’s restrictive early action, you can apply to one school in that type. But if it’s just early action, you can apply to as many as you want. Now, with that being said, we do not recommend applying to more than 12 schools, and we will note that the Common App only allows you to apply to 10 schools, so we’re already telling you, please don’t apply to more than that.

Lonnie: Okay, if you submit your regular decision application early, before early decision deadline, does that increase your chances?

Joanne: No. So what happens with the applications is their picture. They’re put into buckets. There’s an early decision bucket, early action bucket and a regular decision bucket. Your application won’t even be reviewed until after the deadline has passed for submission.

So, I mean, it’s great, like good for you. Um, I don’t know about you, Lonnie, but I always tell my students, like, we’re not waiting until that night to submit the application. Like, we’ll do it 3 days, 4 days before just to get it done. Um, there’s no need to wait until, you know, 11:50 because Newton kicks in and what goes right or wrong typically sometimes happens for students, but it doesn’t matter when you submit.

It, it just, it doesn’t matter. matters on the type of application. When you sit down to use the programs that we use, they’re usually categorized and sorted by the application type. So even if you’ve already applied and the deadline is not until January 15th, nobody’s going to review your application until then.

If it’s a school that has three different types of applications.

Lonnie: Hi, I absolutely agree with more and more students applying to early action is the advantage of early action going down over the years and what percentage of students apply to early action compared to regular decision last year.

Joanne: So I wouldn’t be able to give you a general idea about the percentage of students applying early action to regular, just because I only know the statistics for my school, um, but I would agree your you are correct.

Um, I think more and more students are applying early. I think they’re just generally a group of planners and people who are looking to get ahead of those timelines. But again, for those larger universities, you have to recognize. You know, even if more are applying, there are still more on the back end applying.

So yes, you know, perhaps we’re on target right now to receive 39,000 applications. So we’re up. However, um, not all those students are applying early. It’s just applications in general are, um, uh, I think this has a lot to do with the pandemic that has allowed students and I would say empowered colleges to give more students opportunity to apply.

There are so many different fee waiver programs that assist with the cost. So there’s a lot of things at play. So while people are saying, yes, you know, more students are applying early. But I think more students are applying to university in general.

Lonnie: Okay, so if I apply early action, will all schools have visibility of each school I apply to?

Joanne: That is a great question. And the answer is no, we have no idea. We have no idea. Um, I think it’s pretty sure it’s done on purpose, but the only I’ll tell you this. The only reason I know when students apply to another school is we are a common app school.

So let’s say, you know, I’m reading an application, it’s going along good. And the student is like, and I really want to attend Harvard University. Well, I don’t work at Harvard. I work at Howard. So that’s the only way we know. But luckily for you, we have no idea. We don’t know where you rank us on the FAFSA or the CSS profile.

That would kind of be cheating.

Lonnie: Okay. So does EA increase students chances of getting merit scholarships?

Joanne: So for some universities, um, merit scholarship, there is a pool of money that’s given out. Um, and sometimes that pool is depleted. Earlier on in the application cycle. That question is specific to each individual school, and it’s something that you should ask.

Many of the schools have a separate financial aid portion of their website that you can go through to see if they provide merit need based and how the admission team looks at finances through the admission process. But, um, so the answer is sometimes, sometimes merit can be affected. Um, but it really, that’s a school to school answer that I recommend you reaching out to your counselor directly.

Lonnie: Is the process different for international students?

Joanne: No. So I think when it comes to the admission process, if you separate finances, the admission process itself is quite similar, right? So international students can take the SATs or ACTs as well as AP or IB. Um, the biggest difference is, or difference is, um, the FAFSA.

So the process is the same, the deadlines are the same, all of the same requirements. Um, you may have to submit a TOEFL or a DUO, something like that, any of those scores, but you’re right alongside with the, um, the domestic students on this page. So same deadlines, same parameters, same application, um, pieces that are required for submission.

Lonnie: Thank you. How do you know how much merit award you would be given if you apply early decision? Will I know how much I will be paying before committing to an early decision school?

Joanne: That’s a great question. So I’m going to give you two answers to that. So the first answer is you should always do the net price calculator whether you’re applying early, regular, or rolling.

So the government requires every university to have the net price calculator on their website. Google the school and that price calculator, it will come up. If you are honest with your answers regarding your family’s finances, as well as your academics, it will give you a general idea of what you’ll be paying for college.

Now, with that being said, for students who are applying early decision, typically you can call the office of financial aid within those universities and say, I just really want to know, you know, my parents have turned into, turned in my financial aid, my FAFSA or CSS profile. I was wondering if I could speak with somebody about, um, what a general financial aid package for somebody with my GPA would be, and they will help you.

They’ll give you, again, some general idea of what you’ll be paying for for college. If in fact, you are given a financial aid package and you cannot afford it, some schools will let you break it, or some schools will rise to the occasion and match so that you can afford to go.

Lonnie: Okay. Our audience is asking some really great questions. Um, so our next question is, what advice would you give to a student who has a 3. 0 and was not involved in sports or many school activities slash clubs? What can they do to give themselves an edge to get into a school of their choice?

Joanne: That’s awesome.

Um, so 3. 0 let’s all be very realistic. That’s a great solid GPA. So I don’t want to downgrade or downplay that student’s achievements. Um, there’s a couple of things you can do, right? So if it was that you had an upward trajectory, you should use your essay to denote that on your application. The common app prompts that.

Typically don’t change. I don’t think they’ve changed in years. So you can talk to us about what your academic career has been. Additionally, even if you’re not doing official clubs or activities, I think COVID has opened the door for personal activities and more non official things. So while I’m reading an application and I see a student makes their bed.

And not something that I’m like, Oh my goodness. However, let’s say you taught yourself to play the guitar in free time. Um, that’s something that should be counted. Or maybe it’s more non traditional where your parents work and you had to take care of a sibling. That’s important. That’s information that we want to know about you.

So while like eating dinner may not count as an activity, you still can utilize some of your personal things. If your guidance counselor is writing your letter of recommendation. Another way for them to kind of speak about the, the successes you’ve had both in and out of the classroom. Additionally, usually colleges allow students to submit additional character references.

Perhaps it can be an alum. Um, it could be a coach, a ministry leader, someone within your life can also allude to the successes that you’ve had. So I don’t want to discount the 3. 0 GPA because I think every school needs like a solid just, you know, Go get them hard fighting, you know, gritty student. Um, but don’t worry.

The other thing, too, is to be realistic with your college list. So, you may not qualify to go to some of these other schools. But the cool thing about college, and especially college here in the U. S., is there’s hundreds of them. Like, hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds. So there is a school that will admit you with that GPA.

So it may not be your top choice and that’s okay. Maybe you do a semester or a year there and then you can talk about transferring to the college of your dream. So there’s still time to make it up.

Lonnie: Okay, um, are you ready for the next question?

Joanne: I am.

Lonnie: Okay, um, is there any benefit to applying early action to an ED2?

What is a good strategy?

Joanne: An early action to an ED2? So even if this ED1 and ED2 are, I would say, quite similar, They’re similar. They’re the same thing, right? They’re just different timing. So usually ED2 is due around the end of January, beginning of February. It’s, again, the biggest, one of the bigger indicators for your interest.

So I wouldn’t say that there is. It’s a different kind of a benefit. Early decision, it means you want to be there. It’s, again, your top indicator. It’s just, it’s not a comparative kind of circumstance. I would say, if you really want to be at this school, then you should apply early decision. I don’t think, um, you get an edge applying early action over ED2.

Lonnie: Okay. How do we know, um, the restricted schools?

Joanne: So in the common app, um, when you are submitting your application, it will give you the application type. So this is something that you have to do a little bit of research on. So once you’ve created your list, you know, you’ll go through, list them all, list the requirements, and then you’ll go through and list the types of application.

I always additionally make my students put the type of application that they’re going to submit. So whether it’s early decision, early action, regular, rolling, We always notate that so that, um, it’s just another way for us to keep, um, organized. So it does take research. Um, I am sure that somebody has collated a list of all of the restrictive or single choice, um, schools in the country.

I’m sure you could Google it.

Lonnie: Um, can senior transcripts be put onto your application for early decision or do they only take consideration junior year and under?

Joanne: So, yeah, that is a really good question. Um, for students who are applying early decision, we will probably see the first semester. Of the first quarter of your senior year.

And typically what happens is your guidance counselors should realize and recognize that you’re applying early decision and are already prepared to submit the additional, um, or the first term grades for you. Now, in many cases, you know, some of those bigger, larger public institutions, public high schools, where there’s not as many guidance counselors and or resources, we’ve had to call and we’ll say, well, the counselor will say, well, they’re there.

The grades aren’t ready yet. You know, what are we going to do? We just get a progress note, right? So each teacher will be required to submit something through common app that allows us to see how the student is doing in school. So while yes, you’re submitting the application without those grades, something will come in writing on your behalf that will indicate to us how you’re doing that year.

And then additionally, 90 percent of common app schools will require a mid year report. So it’s automatically sent once midterms come out. So. What is that? Around February ish, we’ll get an additional report that will go into your application file and show us how you’re doing through the first half of the semesters.

Lonnie: Okay, next question reads, let’s say the deadline is November 1st. When you hit the submit button on October 31st, is your application considered complete? There’s multiple parts of this question, or is it not complete until the letter of recommendations are sent? So in this scenario, would your application possibly be considered late and then regular decision?

Yeah.

Joanne: Yeah, so most schools, um, this is a good question because the common app kind of works with triggers and notifications. So if you submit on the 31st, your application itself has been submitted. Great. Excellent. And that’s what we need. However, you are correct. Your application will not be considered complete until the other parts of the application has been submitted.

So once you submit, You know, your school should get a note saying such and such has submitted application and then your counselor goes in hits a button and digitally sends the rest of the application to us. So, it’s on the back end of things you have to realize we’re kind of working for you. Once you submit.

But on the front end, you would have no idea. I’m only telling you now. So you’re correct. Your application is not complete until we get the transcript and letters of recommendation. And usually that’s sent through the common app. Most schools are connected through score, parchment, Naviance, um, through common app.

And that’s how we receive all those documents. That’s a good question.

Lonnie: That was a good question. Yes. So this question reads that I have a question I ED to you pin Is there any way I can pull out of my pool? Pull out of it on the common app because I didn’t fully send it through

Joanne: so you can pull out of it But you have to call The university you won’t you won’t be able to do it So they’ll have to change the application type in their application system.

I happen to know they use C Slate. So they will have to, um, change your application for you. Likely what is going to be required is a letter from you as well as your guidance counselor and probably your parents saying that you’ve changed your mind. I would do that sooner than soon.

Lonnie: Uh, when you apply early action, when do you update NCAA for student athletes?

Joanne: So I think your coaches have to do it. I think it’s like now that they are working on doing that. I’m pretty positive. Um, but again, that’s one of those automatic triggers that once you have created your application and profile, everything kind of links up together. Um, and then your coaches will finish their part.

But I’m pretty sure that the college bound athletes right now are going through that process.

Lonnie: Is there a difference between regular decision enrolling admissions?

Joanne: Yeah, so there is actually a difference. So regular decision will have a firm, complete deadline. It’s usually, let’s say, February 15th. Rolling means you could apply up until the day before classes start.

If there is space for you within that first year class. So I’ve known some schools like, you know, state schools who have ample amount of spaces and classes. They can take students up until like, end of August. So their applications typically remain open. Um, and they, they just generally don’t have a deadline now.

That’s not to say that programs or selected programs don’t close, but, um, typically rolling means that they will be able, you’ll be able to apply to them well into the summer.

Lonnie: Okay. Is there a difference in how an application is treated by the school, if you’re using the common app versus the school application?

Joanne: No, there’s no difference at all. We truly don’t care. Um, Um, the reason we are all pushing Common App is because it’s simply easier for you as a student. It doesn’t matter to us.

So whether it’s Common App Coalition, Black Common App, doesn’t matter.

Lonnie: Do we need to apply for merit scholarships, our submission, our submission applications itself, or submit applications itself? Our, let me read that one more time. Do we need to apply for merit scholarships or submission applications itself makes it eligible for merit.

Submitting the app itself. Does it make you eligible?

Joanne: So it depends on the school. Um, so some of the schools that I’ve been working with, the application itself counts as your application for financial aid and merit scholarship, where some schools do have a scholarship deadline. So again, when you’re getting organized, you should make sure that you are putting all that information on there.

And additionally, let’s say, you know, you’re applying to a school. The Honors College may have different, um, deadlines and requirements and, um, applications for you to submit as well.

Lonnie: Okay. So we’re gonna take a short pause from our live questions and answers. So please feel free to continue to, um, place your questions into the chat box.

Um, but for those in the room who are already working with us, we know how overwhelming the admission process can be, especially for competitive applicants like yourselves. Our team of over 300 admissions 300 former admission officers and admission experts are ready to help you and your family navigated all in one on one advising sessions.

Take the next step in your college admission journey by signing up for a free consultation using the QR code on your screen. During the consultation, a member of our team will review your current lists, discuss how it lines up with your college goals, and help you find opportunities for growth and leadership.

After scanning the QR code, you’ll be able to select a date and time for a phone conversation with a member of our team. Okay, so we are going to get back into our questions. I QR code on the screen in case you didn’t get the opportunity to scan it, you still will. And we’ll move into our next round of questions.

Okay, so this question reads, do schools use AI to culminate through applications or is that a rumor?

Joanne: Um, I wouldn’t say it’s a rumor. I mean, I have no problem being honest with us. So at the university I work at, we recalculate all of your, um, GPAs. So even if you know, you’re you have a 4.89 GPA. That truly is commendable.

However, we will recalculate to an unweighted GPA. So I know for a fact that universities can program, um, college admissions. Platforms to recalculate GPA. So I don’t think it’s a bad thing. I think it’s like a time saver thing. And the reason I think it’s a time saver it is that allows the. application reader to spend more time on your application itself because we do what’s called holistic review.

So instead of, you know, taking a moment to calculate your GPA, it’s kind of nice to show up, the GPA is already calculated, and then you can read through all the different parts of the application.

Lonnie: All right, next question is, um, are the omissions or rejection notifications given out on the exact date they’re supposed to come out? Example, December 1st, or do they trickle out during that month?

Joanne: So it depends on the type of school. So if you apply to a school where they have hard and fast deadlines, they typically will do most of their notification at the same time.

So what the trend that I’ve been seeing in higher education is we’re pretty careful and we’ll say, you know, decisions will be forthcoming in December. It’s an ambiguous date, right? So you have no idea. And then, you know, one o’clock some afternoon, you’ll get a post on social media that says so and so is releasing decisions tonight.

So usually for the schools that are, um, fast to their deadlines, they will send all the gay or nays out at once. Rolling or regular for some of the more relaxed school deadlines, they typically send them out kind of gradually and in waves. So it really, truly depends on the type of school you’re applying to.

Lonnie: Okay, next question. If a student gets rejected an EA or ED and then improves test scores and change the major, can the student apply for regular decision for the same school?

Joanne: Good question. But no, once you’re rejected, you are rejected. The only way your application would stay quote unquote live is if you were deferred.

So if you applied early action and or early decision and the school said we’re going to defer you to the regular pool, that’s the only way that your application would stay live. If you are rejected, it does not matter. Um, you should take those great scores and find another school. Unfortunately,

Lonnie: Could you share a bit more about the difference between single choice early action and restrictive early action?

Joanne: So single choice early action and restrictive are Pretty similar. You can only apply to one of these schools. You can’t apply to any other school early action. So it kind of limits your application pool and you are beholden to regular decision applications, which is fine. You know, again, if you are a student that.

wants that early notification, but it’s not really sure if you’re 100 percent sold on the school. This is a great option for you. It’s an excellent option. And again, a high indicator of your yield or your interest rather. So the single choice and restrictive are very similar in the fact that you can only do one.

Um, and you’re not binding or binded to attend that school or bound rather, I think is the word.

Lonnie: Okay. Let’s see our next question. Is it too late now to take the SAT for early decision on November 1st? If the school is test optional, is there any point to send in the score if it’s at the low end of the school average?

Joanne: Yeah, don’t send the score. Nope. Don’t send it. I wouldn’t bother. So if you found that your other parts of your academics are stellar, you’re good. Do not bother sending the score. Don’t stress yourself. Give the test space to somebody else. Just move on. If you have a school that you’re right on target with, there’s no need to send the score and take the chance of sending a score that you don’t know.

And then it could be lower.

Lonnie: Alrighty, so, um, this is kind of reiterating a point. Are clarifying a point you made earlier. Um, is the cap for the number of early action schools 12 or 10?

Joanne: So there’s, there’s truly no cap for the amount of schools that you can apply to. I just will state that we just Don’t believe that you should apply to more than 10 schools.

The cap on the common app is 10 schools. So this can be done because I had a student who do this, who did this. She applied to 24 schools. So what you do is you fill out your application, you select those 10 schools. You submit those, they receive them, and then you go back and you remove those 10, add another 10, submit, they receive, and you go back.

So, we truly don’t care how many, um, that is, 10 is a lot, 12 is a lot, 24 is too much. So, you can apply to as many schools as you want to. It’s, I think, a great time in a student’s life if you have the time to do it, but there’s no reason to apply to more than, I would say, 12 schools.

Lonnie: Okay. Um, when in when is the waitlist announced?

And is there a chance to get confirmed from the waitlist?

Joanne: Great question. So usually, um, waitlists are announced at the end of each application round. So when your application, depending on the school, you could receive and admit a deny a deferral or a waitlist. Deferred means that they’re going to send you to the next decision round, which is usually regular decision.

Deny is deny. Um, admit is admit. And then waitlist, of course, means that they really love you, but perhaps you’re applying to a major that’s highly sought after, so they need to hold you back. Usually schools will not go to their waitlist until after the National Deposit Deadline Day, which is May 4th.

First. So it is a waiting game. Um, there’s no telling if you come off the wait list or if they’re going to admit anybody. But, um, usually you’ll find out about the wait list alongside the regular decision notification and then, um, It’s literally a waiting game. So then the school will contact you and say, do you want to remain on the wait list or do you have other plans?

There will be a lot of communication, but usually that determination comes after the regular decision. So, at some point in March or April, um, that’s when wait lists would be determined.

Lonnie: All right, next question. Is there a schedule? Certain order admission officers read applications and how important is the essay compared to GPA and extracurriculars.

Joanne: So the order is up to the reader. Um, I’m sure some schools have dedicated order, but at all of the universities I’ve worked at, you just read how you want to.

Um, I’m used to reading with a partner. So one of us is part of the application. The other one reads the other part. So usually at the schools that I’ve worked at, you know, one person does the academics and the other person does extracurricular essay and things like that. Um, It generally just depends on the person.

I love to read the essay last because I think it kind of incorporates and encapsulates the student as a whole. I like to purview everything when we talk about holistic review. It means we review anything that’s submitted. So portfolios, supplemental essays. Anything that we’ve asked of you and you’ve submitted will take into consideration.

I think there was part two of that question.

Lonnie: The question, oh, how important is the essay compared to GPA and extracurricular?

Joanne: So the number one thing is always going to be the GPA, right? So we have to admit students who have the ability to do the work at the school. So that’s always going to take precedence. We, but with that being said, many schools, like I said, do holistic reviews.

So we will review everything. It’s just a part of the puzzle. So let’s say you’re making cookies, you know, and it’s chocolate chip cookies, the chocolate chip you need, right? Like you’re always going to need the chocolate chip, but the flour and the butter, and I don’t know, you put milk in chocolate chip cookies, the milk really make up the whole cookie.

Lonnie: I love chocolate chip cookies. Um, when you take the SATs for the second time, will your second set of scores automatically be reported to the schools you selected in the first round? And B, will the opposite happen? Meaning the scores from the first round be automatically reported to the schools you added during the second round, even though they were not selected for the first time.

Joanne: Unfortunately, you have to tell Common App. It’s a computer. Sorry, college board. So you would have to let them know that there is an update. I just pray for most students that their guidance counselors have access to their scores because that’s the quickest way to get it to a university. But just like with, like I was saying, we have so much technology.

A lot of us have. you know, direct integrations with College Board that allow the scores to come across automatically. Um, the only thing that I would say is you probably want to preview before you send if you have the ability to do that. So before you’re sending, I would review them instead of just blindly saying, here, take these.

Um, I wouldn’t just send them automatically.

Lonnie: Okay. Um, how much time is spent by admission office to read applications for a student? Is it like 15 minutes, 30 minutes?

Joanne: I think it depends on the reader. A more experienced reader is probably 10 to 12 minutes per application. Um, somebody who’s kind of starting out and new, it may take longer than that, but it’s usually about 10 to 12 minutes, which I know is really sad when you think about the amount of time, but you do have to realize that we got to keep it moving and it’s just one part of the job that we do.

Lonnie: Okay. So this question is, um, will my age affect my chances of getting into my dream school?

Joanne: No, I don’t think so. I think it is something that is considered when we get to like the more student life side of things, right? So like perhaps you’re not a person that can live in the single apartment by yourself if you’re a younger student or maybe you are an older student and you are independent.

Um, that’s not usually considered in the application process.

Lonnie: Does applying to financial aid affect my chances of getting into my dream school?

Joanne: No, um, not every. I think there are only 12 schools that are both need blind and will meet 100 percent need, um, meaning they’ll pay as much as you need for you to go to college.

So no, um, University is astronomically expensive. I don’t know very many people that would be able to just write a check for four years. So don’t worry. Um, I think you’re in the boat with many, many other people. And it’s, it’s, it’s a nice thing to know that many colleges are not Taking into consideration families, finances, they’re really admitting students because they deserve to be there and are eligible to be there.

Lonnie: Okay, so this question is, um, just kind of reiterating a point. Um, so the admission counselors will not even see the application till everything is submitted from the guidance counselor and the application is complete?

Joanne: That’s correct. So the application file. We’ll say doesn’t go to an admission officer until it’s complete and ready for review.

So, yes, you know, we would be able to look up for you and say, oh, yeah, we have your transcript or, you know, yep, we have your letters of recommendation, but they won’t read a file until it’s completely, um, completed. finished and all the parts have arrived.

Lonnie: If I would like to share test scores to some schools and not for others, then should I get my transcript without the test scores?

Then can I share scores in the common app for schools that I would like to send? Is there just any like best practices that you would recommend?

Joanne: So, um, I think each school, if there are tests optional, allow you to indicate and they’ll redact it from your application. So within the student portal, you should be able to say your student, um, application portal.

Many of you will get 1. you should be able to say, no, I do not want my scores, um, considered or yes, I want my scores committed as considered. If you say no, it will redact them from the computer itself. So the reader won’t even be Won’t even know that they were there.

Lonnie: Awesome. So now that is going to bring us to the end of our webinar this evening.

So thank you, Joanne, for providing a great wealth of information in regards to the type of applications. And thank you audience for the amazing questions that you’ve asked. And, um, last thing I want to share is our webinars that are coming up. So every week we have different webinars all aimed towards supporting you through the application process.

So, um, thank you again for joining us and we look forward to seeing you at an upcoming webinar with CollegeAdvisor.

Joanne: Goodnight. Thank you. Goodnight. Thank you.