Procedures For Special Admission Options
The act of applying and being admitted to a college or university is not always as straight forward as it may seem. Many schools will have instructions for various types of admissions and the deadlines and requirements will vary for each option. Here are some special admissions processes, of which you want to be aware.
As entailed in the description, college application for early decision also means that the application itself will be due earlier in the process than it would be for regular applications. This option can be beneficial for the high school students who have maintained excellent grades, have a successful academic record, and are quite certain of the direction in which they would like to take their education. The biggest benefit of applying for early decision is that there is generally a higher rate of acceptance for early applicants than for regular applicants. Especially at the more selective schools, early application may guarantee you a spot, allowing you to relax a little more during your final year in high school. However, one downside to the early decision process is that these acceptances are often binding, meaning that you must commit from the start of the application process to attending that school, if you are accepted. This is a bit different than for later applicants who may continue to consider a pool of schools, up until the final deadline for commitment. This will affect students who are often nearing the end of their senior year in high school.
A similar process to early decision is now available at some schools, which does not entail a commitment of attendance. For instance, for the early action applicant, the student maintains the right to consider other schools throughout the application process. So, when applying, make sure you understand if you are looking at an early decision process, which requires your commitment to attend the school in question, or if you are looking at an early action process, which may gain you admittance, but not require an absolute commitment to attending that school.
If the college you are looking at has a rolling admissions process, this means they basically consider applications as they come in and continue to do so until all of their slots are filled. Many colleges will have this process in place, in combination with early admission and regular admission deadlines. They might give priority to applicants who meet a certain deadline, for instance, but then continue on a rolling admissions process until their programs are filled. In any case, earlier is generally better for securing admission to these colleges and universities.
Many public colleges have open admissions, or limited open admissions policies. For instance, this might mean that a state college will automatically accept any high- school graduate from within that state, who has maintained a certain grade point average (GPA), has scored above a predetermined number on a standardized test (such as the SAT test or the TOEFL), or has graduated in the top percentile from the public high school they attended. Most community colleges will have open college admissions policies.
On the other hand, selective admissions have firm application dates and requirements. Thus, college admission will not be guaranteed to any particular population of prospective students.