Expert Advice| 权威建议

SENIORS! NOVEMBER IS EARLY TIME! Early Decision? Early Action? REA? Forget it! Go Regular!

2015-11-03 1:30 | By Joyce Slayton Mitchell

Colleges use all kinds of language to get students to apply early with VIP, personal, instant decisions, single choice “earlies”, restricted choice “earlies”, and all kinds of plans that promote an early decision for anxious students. This is college marketing. Don’t get sucked in to believing that you have to go early because it helps get you in.

Just for starters, don’t even think about early decision until you have finalized your college list. Let’s face it; early decision is great for the colleges. They lock in top testers who can pay the full cost early in the year. To hear colleges talk, you would think it is always to your advantage to go early. But whoa! Let’s look at the downside to an early plan. I know. I know. You are going to ask, “What have I got to lose?” The college reps are out there hustling for as many applications as they can bring in. But there is another point of view; it’s from the student’s point of view.

Besides the obvious things about early decision that hurt the student (a deferral or denial in December just before exams, basing your college admissions on your junior year and not waiting for senior grades and stronger SATs)—it cuts decision time in half. The unqualified students for early decision get the impression that they will get in because of their high interest. “If we are really your first choice, then apply early!” is the clear message from most of the college admissions officers. This is said even when the rep doesn’t have a clue about the student’s record.

The worst part of early plans, however, is that early applications close minds. The student’s primary task is to research the colleges to learn what’s out there, to keep taking in data as a scientist does in research. Students learn in science class that they must keep collecting data and evaluate only after all the data is in.
Let me tell you what happens to the research component in early decision: A senior will write to me in the summer and say, “I love Vassar, I’m going to apply early, I had an interview and it went on for an hour and twenty minutes.” This student doesn’t have the numbers to get into Vassar. I write back and say, “Bill, I know you love Vassar. Now let’s go on and see what else you like. What is it that you like about Vassar? Here is a list of colleges just like it, with varying degrees of selectivity to get you started.” All of that goes in one ear and out the other because the student has eyes only for Vassar. So he keeps learning more and more about that college. And remember? We all like best what we know best. When the student is denied or deferred in late December, not only can he not think straight because he is so disappointed and surprised (regardless of how cool he may handle it), he just can’t begin to open his mind at that late date. Some go through the motions, but they rarely get engaged in learning more about other colleges. Your responsibility is to figure out 8 colleges that you really like.

Getting the process “over with” doesn’t begin to outweigh the advantages that learning more about the colleges and yourself during your senior year gives you. If you have a 10 to 25 percent chance of getting in to a certain school, and it’s a competitive college on the national scene, don’t buy in to the colleges’ message to “Apply early if you clearly like it best.” What harm will it do? Getting a deferral or a denial at exam time in December—with no acceptances from any other colleges to balance the denial—hurts. And it hurts a lot more in December than you think it will in September.

Here’s another fact that is just as important: A very small percentage of those deferred students ever get in from the regular pool (5 to 10 percent). Think about it. Plain human behavior. If you read through an applicant’s folder that you had turned down the first time, wouldn’t you say to yourself, “Well, I didn’t take her in the first round, wouldn’t I rather say yes to a fresh, new applicant than the one I denied earlier?” Of course you would! We all would. Even though the colleges want to lock in the high flyers (top testers), and the media touts the national trend toward “earlies”, it is never to your advantage unless you have what that college is looking for—the numbers. Of course there are always exceptions. It probably makes sense for about 10 percent of your class to apply early for one reason or another. If one of the colleges in your “50 percent chances to get in” stands out in high interest for you, or if financial aid or minority status is not a factor in your admissions, then it might make sense for you to consider applying early. The colleges talk to you only about your interest, but realize that colleges act on your interest only if you have their numbers. If you aren’t quite up there, don’t even think of applying early. On the other hand, if you do have the numbers, you have researched your whole list, and you have considered all of the data you collected, then early plans can give you a competitive edge over regular applicants because the college is assured that you will accept their offer. For upwards of 80% of the applicants, however, Early Decisions close minds. A closed mind is the worst way to make a decision.

Adapated from 8 First Choices: An Experts Strategies for Getting Into College, Second Edition, 2014