When To Begin Applying For College

Choose Early Decision Early Action Regular Decision Or Rolling Admissions

In August or September, you should choose an admissions plan for each university. Most students choose the regular decision process, with deadlines spanning from late November to mid-March.

Early decision and early action plans allow students to apply for and receive admissions decisions earlier than regular decisions. Some schools early decision and early action rounds are less competitive, admitting a higher percentage of students than in regular decision rounds. However, you should only choose early decision or early action if you have thoroughly researched schools and are committed to attending a particular college.

Early decision is binding: you must attend that college if accepted, unless the financial aid package is insufficient. Some universities offer two rounds of early decision deadlines , one in fall and the other in winter. The ED II round in winter gives you more time to prepare a stronger application package, research and visit colleges, and explore financial aid options.

Early action is non-binding: you have until the May 1 deadline to choose which college to attend. It also allows you to explore more financial aid packages from schools you are accepted to. Some highly selective private schools offer restrictive early action, which is also non-binding, but prevents students from applying ED/EA to other private schools.

Ready To Start Your Journey

• Most applications opened on August 1 for students applying for fall 2022 enrollment.
• College deadlines most often fall between November and February.
• Early admission means preparing your application sooner in your senior year.
• Regular decision gives you more time to work on college essays and take exams.

Most college applications including the Common Application and the Coalition for College opened on August 1, 2021, for students who plan to start school in fall 2022. That said, students could have completed the general application components at any time before this date.

Colleges that maintain proprietary applications, such as Brigham Young University and Georgetown University, can vary in their open dates but generally become available by late August or early September.

While most schools require similar application components, different admission options allow you to submit your application by different deadlines. The four basic options are early action, early decision, regular decision, and rolling admission.

Regardless of when you apply, you’ll need to submit a college essay , recommendation letters, official high school transcripts, and, if required, standardized test scores.

Applying Early Why It’s Important

Applying early can make a difference. It allows time to ensure your application is complete and all documentation is received. And, some limited enrolment programs may offer early seats to qualified applicants. Programs only accept applications until they are filled. So don’t wait apply now!

We are currently accepting transcripts by mail and directly from the Ministry of Education, secondary schools and and other post-secondary institutions. To ensure the most efficient delivery of your transcript to Douglas College, we recommend applicants order an official transcript to be send directly to Douglas College as soon as you apply to Douglas College.

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Should I Use An Online Or A Paper Application

Check with the college to see which is preferred. Most colleges prefer online applications because they are easier to review and processsome even offer a discount in the application fee if you apply online. Applying online can also be more convenient for youits easier to enter information and correct mistakes. Whichever method you choose, be sure to tell your school counselor where you have applied so your school transcript can be sent to the right colleges.

When Do You Apply For Early Admissions

Early admissions includes two options: early decision and early action. While early decision and early action differ in terms of their requirements and conditions, they share similar timelines. Both plans have a deadline in November and allow you to hear back about your admissions decision in mid-December.

Some popular schools with early action deadlines of November 1 are CalTech, Georgetown, Harvard, MIT, Notre Dame, Stanford, University of Virginia, and Yale. Popular early decision schools with a November 1 deadline include Boston University, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Northwestern, NYU, University of Pennsylvania, and Vanderbilt.

Some schools with early decision now also offer an Early Decision II deadline, which is in . Like Early Decision I, this binding option lets you hear back early from your first choice school, usually in February, about whether or not you got in. The main advantage of applying Early Decision II is that youll have a little extra time to polish up your application before submitting it. Some popular schools with Early Decision II deadlines of January 1 are Brandeis, Colby, Emory, NYU, Smith, and Vanderbilt.

Early admissions can be a great option for students who are prepared to apply early and appreciate early notification. If you’re planning to apply early, when do you complete each step of the process?

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Should I Apply To Colleges If My Admission

Yes. The admission scores and grades that colleges show on their websites are averages or rangesnot cutoffs. There are students at every college who scored lower than the numbers shown.

Remember that colleges consider many factors to get a more complete picture of you. For example, they look at the types of classes you take, your activities, recommendation letters, your essay and your overall character. Colleges are looking for all kinds of students with different talents, abilities and backgrounds. Admission test scores and grades are just two parts of that complete picture.

Start Exploring Your Options

Get started on your college application process by finding schools youâre interested in. The College Board offers a tool that can help you find colleges by location, major, type, and campus lifestyle. Reach out to school counselors, and visit campuses if you can.

Interested in online programs? There are plenty of high-quality programs to choose from, including several on Coursera. Browse through online bachelorâs degrees to see whatâs out there.

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Ask For Letters Of Recommendation

Ask for letters of recommendation a few months ahead of your application deadline. This is because teachers might be swamped with letter of recommendation requests towards the end of the year. Youâll want to give them plenty of time to prepare the letter and collect any information they need from you.

Teachers might ask for your GPA, a copy of your transcript, or perhaps even a draft of your personal statementâinformation they could use to get to know your strengths and motivations. Ask them what they might require when you ask for a letter of recommendation.

Need some more tips? Read about how to ask for a letter of recommendation.

Will Getting Private Scholarships Reduce My Financial Aid

Scholarships can affect your financial aid eligibility. Schools calculate a student’s financial need based on the gap between their expected family contribution and the cost of attendance. Many colleges reduce their financial aid package if students receive private scholarships. This is known as scholarship displacement.

Colleges must post their scholarship displacement policies. For example, scholarship displacement cannot affect federal grants or the work-study program. Schools may also offer an exemption. Some schools ban scholarship displacement to avoid discouraging students from applying to scholarships. Research the policies at your college so you know what to expect.

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Your College Planning Timeline For Regular Deadlines

In many ways, your college planning timeline for regular decision will be similar to the timeline for applying for early admission–but with some key differences. You have to consider how busy the fall of senior year is, both for you and for your teachers and counselors.

If your senior year schedule is packed with challenging courses and after school involvements, then you still might want to work on your essay over the summer months, when you have more time and focus for it. You also might still ask for your recommendations in September, or at least October. Some teachers set a cap on how many letters they’ll write, and they probably don’t want to spend their entire winter holiday writing letters. Try to ask early in the fall semester.

When you apply for regular decision, you might have one more opportunity to take the SAT or ACT in December. It’s still advisable to take it at least once in junior year, and many students take it twicein the fall of 11th grade and again in the spring. Again, you want to think about your schedule in the fall and how to best balance putting together a strong college application with all your other assignments, clubs, and/or sports.

Finally, some schools don’t have set deadlines at all and are flexible about when applications arrive. This option is called rolling admissions.

Contact Going Ivy For Help

Getting accepted to the college of your dreams is a marathon rather than a sprint. By taking the long view and beginning early in your preparatory process, you may stand a better chance of being accepted to the school of your choice. The professionals at Going Ivy can help you throughout the entire process. Call us today to get started on your journey.

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Rolling Admission And Transfer Application Deadlines

Rather than maintaining set deadlines, colleges with rolling admission evaluate applications as they come in and usually offer several application windows each year. In general, these schools accept and review applications until all spots in the upcoming class are filled.

While schools’ application windows can vary widely, most institutions open up admissions early in the fall around September 1. This window can last all the way through spring, depending on how many spots remain, though some schools may follow the May 1 college deadline.

A rolling admission policy is one that many schools use to evaluate transfer applicants as well. Transfer students should begin the application process well ahead of their prospective school’s posted application deadline. Each school maintains its own application window and transfer credit policies, so make sure you carefully read over the requirements before applying.

Although there’s a chance your high school transcript may come into consideration, it’s more likely that your transfer school’s admissions board will evaluate your college transcript. All transfer students should request letters of recommendation, obtain official college transcripts, and submit their applications by March or April for admission that fall.

Timelines For Applying For College Scholarships

Students researching when to apply for a scholarship quickly notice that scholarship deadlines fall throughout the year. Unlike college applications, which are typically due from Nov. to Jan., scholarship deadlines fall in every month. In fact, students can start applying for scholarships before they start college.

When should you start your scholarship applications? Incoming college students should start researching scholarships as soon as they apply to college. Continuing students can look for scholarships throughout the academic year and over breaks.

When you are thinking about when to apply for a scholarship, always start the application as soon as possible. If you miss a deadline, you may miss out on free money. Creating a scholarship schedule helps. List final deadlines. Also create your own deadlines to request recommendation letters and write scholarship essays. Some students like to work on their applications during summer break or between terms when they have more time.

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What Are Reach Match And Safety Schools

BigFuture introduces test scores as one additional factor to weigh as you refine your list. Think about narrowing your colleges into three categories:

• Reaches: Your SAT or ACT® score is lower than the average score range of last years freshman class.
• Matches: Your SAT or ACT score is solidly in the same score range as last years freshman class.
• Safeties: Your SAT or ACT score is higher than the average score range of last years freshman class.

Other Types Of Applications

• Restrictive Early Action is a nonbinding option, meaning you aren’t required to attend if you’re accepted. Restrictive Early Action applicants can’t apply to other schools in the early rounds.
• Rolling Admissions is the term for schools that review applications as they are received, meaning there’s no official deadline. For the best chance of acceptance at a school with rolling admissions, it’s still a good idea to apply early.

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When Should I Start The College Admissions Process

The earlier you can start, the better your chances of getting into a top school might be.

As a high-achieving and motivated student, you may dream of getting into an Ivy League or other elite school. Knowing when to start preparing yourself for the epic journey that is the college admissions process is important. In general, the earlier you can get started in the process the better it will be for you. Your preparation for college and to get the best scores on your standardized admissions tests should be continuous, starting from the beginning of your freshman year until you graduate from high school.

Should I Send Additional Material

Its best if you can express everything about your qualifications and qualities in the materials requested. Colleges spend a great deal of time creating their applications to make sure they get all the information they need about each applicant. If you feel its absolutely necessary to send additional material, talk to your counselor about it.

Some arts programs may require portfolios or videos of performances. Check with the college to find out the best way to submit examples of your work.

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When To Start Preparing For College

According to a report by the ACT administrators, only 38 percent of the 2.1 million students who took the ACT test during the 2015/2016 school year met the companys benchmarks in three out of the four tested areas for college readiness. While the company attributes part of this to the fact that more students are taking the ACT test than ever before, the achievement gap clearly demonstrates the importance of starting early on your college preparation so that you are ready for college and able to gain admission to a good school.

Having a longer period of time to develop your interests and to hone your skills can help you when it comes time to take your ACT or SAT and also to have a terrific scholarship and college admissions resume. Some experts recommend starting as early as sixth grade. We have found that starting to think about and to prepare for college should ideally start during the summer before your high school freshman year, but getting help later can still be of benefit to you. Here are some of the things that you should think about during each of your high school years so that you will be on a path to your own personal success.

When Do Most College Applications Open

One challenge of college applications is the variability from school to school. Each college chooses how students should apply, when its application opens, and, of course, its final application deadline . This means that every college you apply to probably will likely have different dates and deadlines that you need to track. However, this wont significantly affect your big-picture timeline, since most colleges open up their applications around the same time.

There are other factors that add some uniformity to the college admissions timeline. Many colleges use the Common Application for all Common App schools, the application opens on the day that the Common App opens, August 1st. This Common App opening date has remained the same for some years.

Another frequently used application platform is ApplyTexas, which is used by most public universities in Texas. The ApplyTexas application opens a little bit sooner, around July 1st, and you can submit your application as early as 10:00 AM Central Time that day!

Theres also the University of California Application, which is the only application platform used by all public universities in the University of California networkthese schools include UC Berkeley and UCLA. This application is unique because, though it is released in August, applicants are only allowed to submit their applications from November 1st to November 30th.

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How To Apply To An Ontario College

The first step in applying to college is to research the programs and colleges available to you. If you have not already decided what programs you are applying to, you can:

• See our College Map to find a campus near you
• Browse our Find a Program tool to see all college programs offered in Ontario
• Visit college websites for more details about their programs and admission requirements
• Attend a college recruitment event to meet college representatives

The next step is to create an account with ontariocolleges.ca and begin your college application.

Ready to start your application?

to your account to complete your application, make changes or confirm offers of admission.

I’m Graduating High School Early

There are rare advanced students who earn enough credits, perhaps from courses at a local community college or online, to graduate high school early and go straight into college at a young age.

These students push their timeline earlier by a year or two, taking the SAT or ACT as freshmen or sophomores, and gathering all their documents early. If this sounds like you, you’ll probably want to work closely with your counselors, administrators, and teachers to make sure they agree with your choice.

You might take your tests in freshmen and sophomore year, ask your sophomore year teachers for recommendations, and apply in the fall or winter of your junior year. You may also have to take the GED to earn the equivalent of your high school diploma. Make sure you’ve met all graduation requirements and, of course, have concrete, realistic reasons for graduating high school early and enrolling in college.

The aforementioned situations are exceptions rather than the rule, but can be great options if they apply to your situation and needs. In closing, let’s review when most students submit their applications to colleges.

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