San Ramon Valley High School

College Applications and Submission Deadlines

 

EARLY DECISION (ED) plans are binding. An ED applicant agrees to attend the college if accepted and if the college offers an adequate financial aid package. A student may only apply to one school ED. A student who applies to a college "ED" should be 100% sure that if accepted, that is the "RIGHT FIT" college for them.  Although students can apply to only one college for early decision, applying to other colleges through the regular admissions process is allowed. If a student is accepted by the first-choice college early, all other applications must be withdrawn.  Be certain that you understand the college's ED policy, including their expectation about financial need. 

 

EARLY ACTION (EA) applications are not binding. Normally, you may apply to several schools EA and you will receive notification of acceptance earlier than the regular decision pool. If you are confident in your application profile/grades, etc. this may be a good option. If accepted, an EA applicant can choose to commit to the college immediately, or wait until the spring. Under these plans, a student may also apply regular decision to other colleges. 

 

The applicant pool for early decision and early action is discriminating. If a student’s record is not superior in every way, he/she should devote their energies to strengthening it and consider applying regular decision. In addition, some early decision and early action schools who 'deny' a student early admission may NOT defer their application to regular decision. In other situations, a school may elect to move your EA application into the regular decision pool. In this case, they are simply saying they are not ready to make a decision and they want to consider your application with the regular decision applications. 

 

Ask that question of a rep (or call admissions) if you do not know the answer about deferral (if not accepted ED/EA will you be considered for regular decision).  On the flip side, early admissions programs can be very advantageous to college applicants, depending on their profile and situation. A high school student who is sure of where they want to go to and whose profile is strong can potentially benefit* from early admissions. 

 

*A good question to ask a college rep/admissions is the% of the freshman class that are typically admitted via “early decision/early action”.

 

Regular Decision: This is usually a later application deadline allowing students more time to complete applications. Students are often notified in March or the beginning of April of their admission decisions. 

 

Rolling Admissions: Some schools offer rolling admissions meaning they accept applicants as applications are received and reviewed.  T