Types of Admission Deadlines

During your research, you must have come across application deadlines. For the uninitiated, an application deadline is the last date by which you should submit your application with the rest of your application documents to the university.  

Most application deadlines are not flexible. If you miss the deadline of a college, then you miss your chance to apply. Therefore, deadlines will control your whole application process. So it becomes important for you to understand the different types of deadlines. 

The two main types of deadlines are the deadline admission and rolling admission.  

Deadline Admission 

In deadline admission, the university will publish a single deadline date. They will accept applications up to that date. After the deadline date, they will evaluate all the applications and choose the best student profiles. The best student profiles are not always with the highest grades. They simply are the best students for that university.  

In deadline admission setup, you have three different ways to apply.  

These are the earliest deadlines usually in November and the earliest notification. If you apply with this deadline, you will receive your answer usually in two months. You can only apply to one college through early admission/early decision because it is a binding application. It means that if you apply early and you are accepted, you have to attend that college and withdraw all other college applications.  

When applying for early admission, you will have to sign a contract agreeing to do this. So you have to really be sure of the college choice in order to apply early decision. This means applying early admission is a big decision and you need to seriously consider what this application means before actually applying. However, applying early is the ultimate way to show your demonstrated interest in a college. So if you really want to get into a certain college and your application can be ready by November, applying early admission may be a good option for you.

Another option in deadline admission is early action. You apply in November and receive the decision within two months. However, the early action is non-binding. If you are accepted through early action, you don't have to attend that college as you can decline the offer. And you don't have to withdraw applications from other colleges. Early action is a great way to show interest in a college and to get the admission decision sooner.

You might come across single-choice early action, which means you can apply to that one university only through early action, but that is rare.  

The third option in deadline admission which is a regular decision. These are most common in January or February, but sometimes they can be set earlier. Regular decision is non-binding as well, and decisions are received between March to April.  

Rolling Admission 

The second main type of deadline is the rolling admission. In this, universities evaluate applications as they are submitted. Universities constantly review applications and send decisions. Students who submit their application first also receive their decision first. The next to submit their application will receive their decisions next. Because the applications are evaluated as they are received, applicants are compared to a set of requirements.  

For admission committee, the best students are those who meet the required criteria. The rolling admission aspect doesn't make the college easier or harder to get into. One thing you should remember is that seats at colleges on rolling admission can fill up quickly. You shouldn't wait too long to apply, as the later you submit your application the lesser space will be available.  

Once there is less space available, the admissions criteria might be harder compared to what they were earlier in the process. If you have colleges with rolling admission on your list, you should consider applying earlier.

Also read:

• How To Create An Application Plan
• Special Admission Programs: Conditional Admission and Bridge Programs