Time to Decide about Early Admission

 Its mid September, This leaves 6 weeks to the Early Admissions Deadline of  November 01. You will hear of admission decision  by mid December.

 Admission rates are  usually higher in the early cycle ( sometimes as much as double)
 Your options are:
Early Decision(ED) -  this is usually binding, if accepted you have to join. A good option for  a  university that is your clear first choice. Ypu can only apply to one school ED.

• Early Action(EA)  -  This is non binding and you can apply to multiple EA programs at once Most universities do not offer EA. Colleges that have  EA options are
• MIT
• Georgetown
• Chicago
• Michigan
• Illinois
• Georgia Tech
• Caltech
• Restrictive Early Action - this is restrictive in that you cannot apply to more than one  program in the early cycle. Harvard,Yale, Princeton and Stanford offer restrictive or Single Choice Early Action .

 I recommend apply ED if you have a clear first choice school in  mind.
 Otherwise  you are best off applying to  one or two schools EA. If accepted,  you need not apply to your "safety" options in January.

Stanford Restrictive Early Action Admission

Stanford has an Early program it calls the Restrictive Early Action Admission .
  Unlike most ED options it is non binding.
 The application is due by  November 1, decisions  be out by mid December. If accepted  you have until May to decide. The acceptance rate is 9.5%  which is better than regular decision but still extremely competitive.
 Her are the details of the   early action policy:

estrictive Early Action Policy

• Applicants agree not to apply to any other private college/university under an Early Action, Restrictive Early Action, Early Decision or Early Notification program.
• Applicants may apply to other colleges and universities under their Regular Decision option.

Exceptions

• The student may apply to any college/university with early deadlines for scholarships or special academic programs as long as the decision is non-binding.
• The student may apply to any public college/university with a non-binding early application option.
• The student may apply to any college/university with a non-binding rolling admission process.
• The student may apply to any foreign college/university on any application schedule.

If you are considering applying to another college/university whose early application option does not appear to qualify as an exception, please contact the Office of Undergraduate Admission for clarification.

Princeton Single Choice Early Action

Princeton's Early  program is called the Single Choice Early Action.
 This is a rather restrictive   option  but the acceptance rate is above 10% so it  is a good option for  a serious student.

 Her are the conditions:
May I apply for rolling admission to another college or university?
Yes, as long as the decision is not binding.
May I apply early to an honors program at a public university?
You may apply early to a public college or university, including to a public institution's honor's program, as long as the decision is not binding.
Will alumni be available to interview me if I apply for early action?
In most cases, alumni will be available to interview early action applicants. If an interview cannot be scheduled for logistical reasons, you will not be at a disadvantage; alumni interviews are an optional piece of Princeton’s application process.
Can I submit supplementary materials including art supplements with my early action application?
If you are very interested in architecture, creative writing, dance, music, theater or visual arts, we welcome your Optional Arts online submission of your portfolio. Submission deadline is Nov. 6. If you are unable to submit the form online, you may use a paper Optional Arts Form. For a list of acceptable file formats and submission types, please download this PDF.
If I am applying early, do I need to submit first quarter and trimester grades from my senior year in high school?
Yes, if possible, please ask your college counselor to submit any senior grades if your high school has them available.
 The  application deadline is  Nov 1 and you will hear by mid December.
 

Harvard Restrictive Early Action

Harvard's Early choice is called the Restrictive Early Action. This is binding and restrictive  because it blocks you from applying ED or even EA to any other US university

 Harvard also uses the common application and the only supplementary essay is open ended.
 Use this to show qualities  that  the admissions committe may be interested in.
 On the Harvard admissions page, the list the following as "things we  look for":

Growth and potential

• Have you reached your maximum academic and personal potential?
• Have you been stretching yourself?
• Have you been working to capacity in your academic pursuits, your full-time or part-time employment, or other areas?
• Do you have reserve power to do more?
• How have you used your time?
• Do you have initiative? Are you a self-starter? What motivates you?
• Do you have a direction yet? What is it? If not, are you exploring many things? 
• Where will you be in one, five, or 25 years? Will you contribute something to those around you?
• What sort of human being are you now? What sort of human being will you be in the future?

Interests and activities

• Do you care deeply about anything—intellectual? Extracurricular? Personal?
• What have you learned from your interests? What have you done with your interests? How have you achieved results? With what success or failure? What have you learned as a result?
• In terms of extracurricular, athletic, community, or family commitments, have you taken full advantage of opportunities?
• What is the quality of your activities? Do you appear to have a genuine commitment or leadership role?
• If you have not had much time in high school for extracurricular pursuits due to familial, work, or other obligations, what do you hope to explore at Harvard with your additional free time?

Character and personality

• What choices have you made for yourself? Why?
• Are you a late bloomer?
• How open are you to new ideas and people?
• What about your maturity, character, leadership, self-confidence, warmth of personality, sense of humor, energy, concern for others, and grace under pressure?

Contribution to the Harvard community

• Will you be able to stand up to the pressures and freedoms of College life?
• Will you contribute something to Harvard and to your classmates? Will you benefit from your Harvard experience?
• Would other students want to room with you, share a meal, be in a seminar together, be teammates, or collaborate in a closely knit extracurricular group?

Yale Single Choice Early Action

Yale refers to their Early Decision program as a  Singe Choice Early Action.  The application deadline is  November 1. Decisions will be sent by  mid December.  Unlike most ED options , this is not binding.
 The restrictions are as follows:
you may apply to another institution’s early admission program as follows:

• You may apply to any college’s non-binding rolling admission program.
• You may apply to any public institution at any time provided that admission is non-binding. 
• You may apply to another college’s Early Decision II program, but only if the notification of admission occurs after January 1. If you are admitted through another college’s Early Decision II binding program, you must withdraw your application from Yale. 
• You may apply to any institution outside of the United States at any time.

The application involves the Common application or Coalition application along with the following essays :

• Students at Yale have plenty of time to explore their academic interests before committing to one or more major fields of study. Many students either modify their original academic direction or change their minds entirely. As of this moment, what academic areas seem to fit your interests or goals most comfortably? Please indicate up to three from the list provided.
• Why do these areas appeal to you? (100 words or fewer)

• Why does Yale appeal to you? (100 words or fewer)

• Who or what is a source of inspiration for you? (35 words or fewer)
• If you could live for a day as another person, past or present, who would it be? Why? (35 words or fewer)
• You are teaching a Yale course. What is it called? (35 words or fewer)
• Most Yale freshmen live in suites of four to six students. What would you contribute to the dynamic of your suite? (35 words or fewer)
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Applying to an Elite University

Lets be honest,  thousands of students and their parents  aspire to an elite university.  A top university can   give  you access to  great  resources  and  faculty.
 The best examples of Elite schools  is the Ivy league. hundreds of student don't apply  to them because these 8  institutions got together to form an athletic association.




    In all  openness, many students  do not want to work hard while in university.  They want to go to college, study a little, play a little Frisbee, go to a few  parties and   secure a decent job. A small liberal arts school or a big university will suit them just fine.  The Elite schools are not for everybody- be honest  about yourself- if you don't belong , don't apply.  Save yourself the hours of writing and editing  essays as well as application fees.

 My list of Elite programs is as follows:

• Harvard
• Yale
• Princeton
• Stanford
• Penn
• Columbia
• Cornell
• Chicago
• Duke
• Johns Hopkins
• Vanderbilt
• Washington( St.Louis)
• Rice
• Notre Dame
• Carnegie  Mellon
• USC

Early Decision and Early Action

Early September is a good tome to  decide on an Early Decision or Early Action  application



 Both involve applying by end October  and hearing of your decision  by mid December.
 Early Decision is binding  and if accepted  you are  obligated to  enroll.
 Early Action is similar but not binding.

 To confuse things   some schools , namely Harvard , Yale, Princeton and Stanford refer to their early admission program as Restrictive Early Action. 
In my opinion Its a good idea  to apply early  action  so you have  something in hand before  you submit the rest of your applications. You can then  increase your focus on  the tougher options and remove safety schools from your list.
 This is a good option for students who have a clear first choice. The Ivy league schools are a   good option for ED applications.

  My choices for EA applications are

• MIT
• Caltech
•  Georgia Tech
• University of  Michigan
• University of  Illinois
• Georgetown University