When to Apply to College

College hopefuls must navigate a maze of standardized tests, essays, recommendation letters and deadlines. Among those deadlines: When to apply to college.

Admissions experts say that, generally, a student should begin the application process by the start of their senior year of high school. While they note colleges may impose different deadlines, most applications for regular fall admission will come due by January. Considering that schools have flexibility to set their own calendars, some colleges may push that date back into early spring.

"I recommend that students start making a list of (potential colleges) and getting organized with the assistance of their school counselors and school community during that junior year of high school," says Colleen Newman, executive director of admissions at the University of Colorado—Boulder.

Much of the prep work that goes into applying to college will happen well before a student hits submit, she says. That includes making a list of potential colleges, taking standardized tests, soliciting letters of recommendation, writing essays and making campus visits.

While most colleges evaluate regular applications between January through March, there are different deadlines for admission types. For example, early action and early decision applications require students to submit their materials well before the new year, with applications often due in the fall. Kelly Fraser, owner and principal at Green Apple College Guidance & Education, says applications are often due as early as mid-October through November at schools with an early action or early decision process.

While students must apply before the regular deadline for both early action and early decision, the difference between the application types, according to the National Association for College Admission Counseling, is that one is binding while the other is not.

For both, students will hear back early from the college. But for early action, "students will not be asked to accept the college's offer of admission or to submit a deposit prior to May 1," NACAC explains in a 2018 report. By contrast, for early decision, admitted students will be asked to withdraw applications elsewhere if they accept a college's offer and will be asked to "submit a deposit prior to May 1."

Another process often used by colleges is rolling admissions. NACAC defines this as when a student can "apply at any time after a college begins accepting applications until a final closing date, which may be as late as the start of the term for which they are applying."

"A rolling admissions application can start really any time and stretch through a student's senior year," Fraser says.

Rolling admissions, experts caution, may mean fewer spots for students who apply later than their peers.

"As applications come in, those applications are reviewed, and then students will nearly immediately hear back from that institution under a rolling admission plan. We encourage students to apply earlier because oftentimes, as decisions are released, spots may fill up in that incoming class," Newman says.

"It's harder numerically to get in," says Chu, noting admission becomes more competitive as seats are filled.

[

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Rolling Admissions: 10 Frequently Asked Questions. ]

Outside of the various college application deadlines, there are still other dates to keep track of.

"Each school might have additional deadlines for honors programs, or an additional application or deadline for scholarships and financial aid," Newman says.

Chu recommends students keep track of important deadlines in a spreadsheet or online calendar to plan campus visits and avoid missing key dates around applications for scholarships or financial aid.

With materials such as standardized test scores and letters of recommendation due, experts suggest students get to work over the summer of their senior year, warning that a late start could lead to a substandard application and harm their admissions odds.

"That is probably the most common and best time to get organized because (students) don't have high school overlapping. Summer is a good time to get organized and start on all these materials," Fraser says. "I would definitely not advise waiting until the deadline. There are students who do that, but it's not best practice to sit down two days before a college application is due and try to put it together."

This article and cited credit goes to:

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2019-03-13/when-to-apply-to-college