January brings cold weather, holiday cheer, and, for seniors, the much-awaited early decision outcome. To help navigate the next steps in the college process, here is a guide to how to handle your early decision outcomes, whether you were accepted, deferred, or rejected.
Early Decision Acceptance
If you have been accepted through early decision, congratulations! You have secured a coveted spot at your first-choice school! Here’s what to do next. First, since early decision is binding, you are obligated to withdraw all applications to other schools and formally commit to attending the school you were accepted to. Then, make sure you submit any deposits and forms to the school you will be attending before the deadline — which tends to be two to four weeks after receiving your acceptance. To see what information is required, check your student portal and email.
Now you can finally breathe a sigh of relief! Your hard work paid off and you are officially committed to college! But remember, you must keep your senior year grades up. Do not let senioritis be the reason your admission is revoked.
Early Decision Deferral
If you have been deferred through early decision, it means that you have been deferred to the regular application pool. Essentially, you were neither accepted nor rejected. Your application is going to be reevaluated with the students who applied to that school through regular decision. Colleges can defer students for many reasons — they want to see your mid-year grades, compare you to the regular decision applicants, or clarify parts of your application — so do not be discouraged! You can still get in! You can do this by continuing to show that you want to go to that school.
The best way to do this is to send a “Letter of Continued Interest” that should contain your current grades, new achievements or add-ons that strengthen your application, and show that you are still very interested in attending their school. One more thing to keep in mind, since you have been deferred, the early decision becomes nonbinding, meaning that you don’t have to go to that school. So if that school is still your top choice then send a strong Letter of Continued Interest, and if it is not, no sweat, devote that time to your early action and regular decision applications.
Early Decision Rejection
If you have been rejected through early decision, you are fully taken out of the application pool and under no circumstances can be admitted to that school. As disappointing as rejections can be, it is important to keep going. Acknowledge your feelings and understand that your plans will have to change, but now is not the time to take your foot off the gas. Turn your to focus on your early action and regular decision applications. Deadlines for early action applications have mostly already passed, but a few are eligible until as late as January 15th. Regular decision deadlines come after that around mid-February. Put all your effort in those applications and make them as strong as possible.
Even if you didn’t get into your first choice, it does not mean all hope is lost, it just means you have to readjust your expectations and make the most of the hand you’re dealt. And who knows, you might like your second choice more than you ever thought you would. In the words of John Lennon and Allen Saunders, “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans. And sometimes, that Plan B turns out to be your greatest adventure.”
Sources:
https://counselors.collegeboard.org/college-application/early-decision-action
https://www.ivyloungetestprep.com/blog/early-decision-next-steps#in
