What is Early Decision 2, and Why Does It Matter?

Early Decision 2 is a second opportunity for students to commit to a college as their top choice. While ED1 deadlines are typically in November, ED2 deadlines fall in early January. Colleges that offer ED2 use it as a way to fill more of their incoming class with highly committed students.

Here’s why this matters:

• Colleges prioritize their yield rate. The yield rate is the percentage of students who accept offers of admission. ED applicants—whether in round one or two—are 100% committed to attending if admitted. This makes them more appealing to colleges than regular decision (RD) applicants, who may be less likely to enroll.
• It’s a strategic ad...

The holiday season is upon us, and while many are focused on family, festivities, and football, I know that for parents of high school seniors, there’s an added layer of stress: college admissions decisions. As early decision (ED), early action (EA), and rolling admission results roll in, it’s natural to feel overwhelmed. Whether your teen is celebrating acceptance or facing disappointment, there are critical next steps that cannot wait.

The next few weeks are pivotal in shaping your teen’s college journey—and I want to ensure you’re prepared. Let’s break it down, step by step, so you and your child can move forward confidently.

1. Reassess the College List (Yes, Again)

Let’s say your teen has app...

Let’s start with what Early Decision is and how it’s different from Early Action. 

Early Decision (ED) is binding and if accepted the student must withdraw all other applications. Early Action (EA) is not binding and the student is free to apply to other colleges and does not have to accept the EA offer until May 1st.

I’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, having a wise Early Decision (ED) strategy is critical to students getting admitted to their first choice schools. For years, with a few exceptions, ED offers students the best possible admissions odds.

In college admissions, especially in early round admissions statistics. For example, just last year, almost 50% of UPenn’s, Dartmouth...

I know November 1st has passed and I know many of you are thinking, "Okay, I blew it. I didn't complete my applications.” This is not true. November 15th is another big deadline for early decision and early action applications, along with December 1st. Also, you have two additional early decision dates which can take place on January 1st or January 15th.

If you have a first-choice school, see if they offer early action or early decision, so you can submit your application early and hopefully get notified with an answer that you want. We strongly suggest that you take advantage of any school that has an early action or rolling admission deadline because the earlier you submit, the sooner you will hear b...

With early application deadlines right around the corner, we thought we should explain what they all exactly are and why you should consider them (if you can afford it).

This is a great explanation from the International College Counselors.

BENEFITS OF APPLYING EARLY 

• Improving your chance of being accepted
• Improving your chance of getting a scholarship
• Gaining time to prepare for college and study for high school classes/AP tests, if accepted
• Gaining more time to apply to other colleges with later deadlines if you get rejected
• Ensuring peace of mind

Early policies can maximize a student's chances to get into a school, but the policies need to be carefully read. While the definitions for eac...

With most early admission programs, you can expect three possible decision outcomes: admitted, deferred and denied. In this post, we will focus on what to do if you find yourself in the last group.

Receiving the dreadful rejection letter from a college admissions office is never easy. The stinging disappointment could have you relentlessly wondering what else you could’ve done to strengthen your application or even worse, make you lose confidence in your candidacy for admission at any other college altogether. After spending several years working as an Admissions Officer, I can confidently say that the college admissions process is an incredibly “human” process and that there could be many factors (man...