The senior class of 2008, beginning on January 1st, received the second wave of college application results.
Applicants who use the Early Decision 1 option are usually extremely interested in one particular school or committed student-athletes. Though both early decision one and early decision two are binding, students often choose to apply early decision two instead for a couple of reasons.
The largest factor, says college counselor David Olins, is the extra time it grants; there is an additional month to month and a half between the early decision one and early decision 2 deadline. This is valuable to students that want to gather more information for their chosen college.
Brian McDermott ’08, who applied in the second round, says that it gives “a lot of people a better chance later in the game.” It is perfect for students wishing to improve upon their GPA by using their fall and winter mid-term grades, while still expressing that the college is their top choice.
A second factor is that throughout the college process, most students change their views on their ‘ideal’ school. Aspects including size, location, and rigor can all vary as students try to determine what type of school best fits them. The longer they have, McDermott says, the more opportunity there is to narrow down where they want to go.
Chris Caracciolo ’08 applied early decision one to Dartmouth, his first choice, and was deferred. He then applied early decision two and was accepted to his second choice, Colgate. He says, “I chose to apply with the second round over regular decision because I wanted to let the admissions office at Colgate know that I was committed to their school.” It is hard to say how much this option has an effect on one’s acceptance. Caracciolo, however, recommends applying early decision 2 because it has allowed him to relax for the rest of his winter term.
Rolling applications, on the other hand, are taken advantage of primarily when applying for larger state schools. The time for application submission varies from school to school, but generally spans over many months. Applications are reviewed and decided on as they come in, and therefore give the early bird students a greater chance of acceptance.
Many students view rolling application schools as safeties. Aasheesh Paliwal ’08, who was accepted to two of his three rolling application schools, says, “I definitely feel less nervous about the rest of my schools knowing that I got in somewhere at least.” This technique has been known to reduce the level of stress of the more competitive regular decision deadline.
On the other hand, some rolling schools are the perfect fit. Paul Ryder ’08, who applied to the University of St. Andrew’s, says, “Since it was the school I wanted to go to, when I got in I realized that I didn’t really want to apply to any of the other schools on my list. So the rolling system was very advantageous for me.”
Ryder sent his application to St. Andrew’s in early November and discovered that he was accepted around Thanksgiving. This flexibility in application submission is very attractive to many students. Applicants can have their own personal deadline and hear the result in four to eight weeks.
Rolling applications are also non-binding. Unlike the Early Decision choices, getting accepted to a rolling application school does not mean an applicant is required to go there. Paliwal says, “I wanted to find out about [rolling application schools] early so I could have them in my back pocket.”
“There is zero commitment,” says Olins. Rolling school deposits are refundable. There is the option of taking a rolling school’s acceptance, and then backing out if you get into another more ideal school from the regular decision round.
Olins says, “Many students at Choate apply to rolling schools every year.” He also comments that more students accepted into rolling schools this year than last year.
