Episode 9: Should You Apply ED? Early Decision, Early Action & Application Deadlines

Q: Is Early Decision binding?

Yes. Early Decision is a binding college application plan. A student applying ED, their parent or guardian, and their school counselor typically sign an agreement acknowledging that the student intends to enroll if admitted. Students should apply ED only when the college is genuinely their first choice and they are comfortable committing to attend if admitted, assuming the financial aid package makes attendance possible.

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Aug 14

Written By Lisa Clay

Podcast Description:

In Episode 9 of The Drop In, college admissions counselors Lisa and Josh break down Early Decision (ED), Early Action (EA), Restrictive Early Action (REA), Regular Decision (RD), ED1, and ED2, plus how students can stay organized and avoid missing critical college application and financial aid deadlines.

Early Decision is a commitment. It is not a hack.

Yes, Early Decision acceptance rates can look significantly higher than Regular Decision rates at some colleges. But that does not mean applying ED suddenly makes a student competitive for a college where their academic profile is not competitive.

So when should you apply Early Decision?

Lisa and Josh give families two important questions to ask:

Is this genuinely, without question, the student’s first-choice college?
Is the student actually a realistic and competitive applicant there?

And there is a third piece families cannot ignore: Can your family afford the school?

Because Early Decision is binding, families should understand the financial implications before signing an ED agreement, including using a college’s net price calculator and understanding financial aid deadlines. For more on the money side of the college process, read Scholarships Made Simple.

Then we turn to college application organization.

Learn how to:

Build a college application deadline spreadsheet
Track ED, EA, REA, and RD deadlines
Track supplemental essays and recommendation requirements
Keep admission deadlines and FAFSA/CSS Profile deadlines separate
Work backward from your earliest college deadline
Build in buffer time before submitting
Confirm your application actually submitted
Keep college portal usernames and passwords organized

Our advice? Do not make 11:58 p.m. part of your college application strategy.

A strong applicant can still miss an opportunity because of a missed deadline, an unchecked portal, or a financial aid form that never got submitted. Organization protects all the work you have already done.

If your student is still figuring out where to apply before deciding when to apply, check out Episode 3: How to Build a College List. And if standardized testing is part of your application strategy, Episode 6 breaks down test optional, test blind, test required, and when to submit scores.

🎓 Need help with your college application strategy?
Lisa and Josh work directly with students and families on college lists, application strategy, essays, deadlines, and the entire college admissions process. Explore our college admissions support for high school seniors and contact us for a free consultation and planning session

🎙️ Also available on: Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music | iHeart

Chapters

00:00 – Welcome to The Drop In
00:52 – ED, EA, REA & RD: What Do They Mean?
03:22 – Early Action: Benefits & How It Works
04:43 – Restrictive Early Action Explained
05:29 – Early Decision: What “Binding” Really Means
06:56 – Does Early Decision Actually Improve Your Chances?
09:01 – When Should You Apply Early Decision?
10:40 – ED1 vs. ED2: What’s the Difference?
11:41 – Early Decision & Financial Aid: What Families Need to Know
13:29 – Early Admission Policies Change Every Year
15:04 – How to Stay Organized During College Applications
15:41 – Build a College Application Master Spreadsheet
17:19 – Work Backward From Your Earliest Deadline
18:13 – Why You Should Never Submit at 11:58 PM
19:48 – How to Confirm Your Application Actually Submitted
20:50 – Keep Track of College Portals & Passwords
21:57 – Hot Takes: ED Is a Commitment, Not a Hack
23:49 – Drop the Mic: The Biggest Lessons From Episode 9
26:08 – Next Week: What Happens After You Submit?

▼ Read Full Transcript

Josh: Every week we drop the noise.

Lisa: Drop the stress.

Josh: And drop some knowledge.

Lisa: Welcome to The Drop In, the college admissions podcast by Decision Drop. If you want to learn more about our services or have Josh and me guide your family through this process personally, head over to decisiondrop.com and check us out. And remember, don't forget to like and subscribe.

Josh: I'm Josh.

Lisa: I'm Lisa. Let's go. It gets better every time.

Josh: All right.

It's just that face to the camera's just getting closer and closer.

Lisa: Yeah.

Josh: All right, Lisa. So Episode 9.

Lisa: Episode 9. Mm-hmm.

Josh: And this week we're going to discuss a part of the process that trips up a lot of really strong students.

Lisa: Right. Deadlines, organization, the application timeline, and the alphabet soup that comes with it. ED, EA, REA, RD.

Josh: It really is an alphabet soup. Without context, it sounds like we're speaking some kind of foreign language for people who aren't familiar with it.

But Early Decision, or ED, Early Action, or EA, Restrictive Early Action, or REA, Regular Decision, or RD. And the stakes of understanding the difference between those decision plans can be pretty high.

Lisa: Right. Because here's the thing that breaks my heart every single year. The most preventable tragedy in this entire process is a wonderful student who missed a deadline.

Or even worse, a student who made a strategic decision they didn't truly understand and locked themselves into something they truly were not ready for.

Josh: Yeah, so today we're doing two things. First, we're going to demystify all these early options, and we're going to spend some real time on Early Decision specifically because it's the one that families get wrong most often.

And secondly, we're going to talk about how to actually stay organized so nothing slips through the cracks.

Lisa: You know I love good organization. Okay, I love this. All right, let's do it.

Josh: All right, Lisa, so we're not going to do any color-coded tabs or anything like that. Let's start off by defining our terms.

Lisa: Speak for yourself, my friend. We might do color-coded tabs. Let's not say no yet. Let's let it sink in and think about it. Maybe marinate.

Josh: We're definitely not doing color-coded tabs.

Lisa: Let's just marinate this while we do the podcast.

All right, so here we go. Regular Decision. That's probably the best one to start with, Josh, because I think it's the simplest one.

If you apply by the regular deadline, let's say the deadline is somewhere around January-ish, you hear back in the spring.

But remember, y'all, every school is different. Here is where our favorite word comes back again. It depends.

So be sure to check the deadlines and websites of every school you're going to apply to.

And Regular Decision, the good thing is there are no strings attached. You can apply to as many schools RD as you want to.

Josh: So Early Action is early and non-binding. You apply earlier, usually by November 1st. You hear back earlier, usually mid-December or January.

And this is the key. You are not committed to anything.

So if your Early Action school admits you, yay, do a happy dance, but you still have until the spring, usually May 1st, to decide if you'd like to go to that school.

You can compare offers. You can weigh financial aid packages. The benefit to you is that you get your admissions decisions earlier.

Lisa: Right. And Early Action, honestly, Josh, I think is a great option for a lot of students because you get the decision sooner, like you said.

It shows demonstrated interest, and it takes some pressure off the back end of your senior year.

So schools like Georgia Tech or MIT or Georgetown, they're Early Action, right? So if a school offers it and you're ready, there's really not a downside to it.

Josh: Yeah, agreed. One quick note on Georgia Tech because it's a great example of why we continue to remind students and parents to read the fine print.

Georgia Tech splits its Early Action into two rounds based on residency. Georgia students have an earlier October 15th deadline, and out-of-state students apply in early November.

They're both still non-binding, but the date you apply depends on where you live.

Lisa: Good catch, Joshua. Thank you.

Okay. So we have Regular Decision. We have EA.

Then there's Restrictive Early Action, sometimes called Single-Choice Early Action. It's still non-binding like regular EA. So if you apply, you're not committed to go there.

However, it restricts you from applying to other private schools. So Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Notre Dame. They all have this.

Read the specific rules because they really do vary. So it depends. See? It came back again. It depends.

Josh: Exactly.

And then, Lisa, there's the big one. The one that we need to spend some time discussing. Early Decision.

Lisa: Early Decision. Now this one, y'all, this one is binding. And that matters.

The word binding matters a lot.

So if you apply ED and you're admitted, you are expected to attend that school. You must withdraw your applications from everywhere else that you applied.

And sometimes that means that you have not heard back from your other schools yet. Because of the binding agreement, you are required to go there.

Your financial situation could change that. However, a college is assuming, because it is binding, that once you apply, you will go there if you get in.

Because here's the thing, kiddos. You sign an agreement. Your parents sign an agreement. Your school counselor signs an agreement.

All three of y'all are signing this agreement that states you understand that ED is binding.

So when we say binding, and I know I've said that 92 times, we mean it.

This is not, “I'll apply now and then I'll decide later.” Early Decision is you saying, “If you admit me, this is where I'm going.” Again, assuming the financial aid works for your family.

Josh: Yes. And this is where I need every family listening to pay close attention because this is the single most misunderstood strategy, really, in the college admissions process.

Lisa: Okay, I'm ready. I'm on pins and needles.

Josh: Okay. So I'm not going to put my face close to the camera like you, but everyone else, metaphorically lean in.

So many families hear that Early Decision admit rates look higher than Regular Decision admit rates. And then they think to themselves that they found some kind of hack or loophole.

Like, if we apply ED, will it boost our chances of getting into a school we otherwise couldn't get into?

Lisa: Right. And that's exactly the wrong way to think about this.

Josh: Okay, so let's make it more tangible with some real numbers. We've been doing these examples in the last couple episodes, so let's keep the ball rolling.

Let's take Vanderbilt, for example. Their combined Early Decision round recently admitted around 13 percent of the students who applied, while Regular Decision was just over 3 percent.

So on paper, it looks like Early Decision to Vanderbilt gives you roughly four times the odds of success.

Or take the University of Virginia, UVA. Their Early Decision round recently admitted about 24 percent of applicants, while their Regular Decision round admitted just over 7 percent.

Lisa: You know I love when we can just start tossing out schools. Okay, this is going to be fun. Let's keep going.

Then there's Duke. Their combined ED round recently admitted around 14 percent, while Regular Decision admitted just over 3 percent.

Then you have Northwestern. Their combined ED was about 19 percent of applicants, while Regular Decision was around 7 percent.

So when a family sees numbers like that, it's not shocking that they're thinking, “Well, we have to apply ED because that's clearly where the advantage is.”

And they're not really wrong about that part.

Josh: Yes, but here's the part we really want families to understand. Those numbers do not mean that applying ED suddenly makes you competitive at a school where you otherwise would not be.

It is true the bump is real, but it is a bump, not a transformation.

It can help a student who is already in the range get over the line, but ED can't pull somebody from nowhere near the range all the way across the Grand Canyon.

Lisa: No, so true. So true.

The same strong students who genuinely love the school are the ones self-selecting into this pool.

Remember that, y'all. This number reflects who's applying. It's not magic.

And here's the other piece, and it might be the most important thing that we say today. You have to love the school if you're going to apply ED.

Josh: Yeah. Like all caps, bolded, underlined, huge-font love.

Lisa: Like LOVE. Full stop. Because it is binding.

Remember, if you get in, you're going.

So this cannot be the school that you're lukewarm about. It cannot be a school that you picked because the rankings told you to do so, or because you had the best ED odds, or because your best friend goes there.

Josh: Yeah. So it has to be the school where, if you got the acceptance tonight, you would be genuinely thrilled.

No hesitation. No, “Well, let me see what else comes in.”

Because with Early Decision, as Lisa just pointed out, nothing else is coming in. You're done. You've withdrawn everything else.

Lisa: So the honest gut check here, I think, is that we should have every family think about this.

Ask these two questions.

Number one: Is this genuinely, without question, my first choice?

And number two: Does my profile actually make me competitive, realistic, and a really good candidate here?

Because you need both to say yes.

Both of them, y'all. Not one. Both.

Josh: Exactly. Extremely important point because, students, if it is your first choice but you're not competitive, ED unfortunately won't save you.

And if you're competitive but it's not truly your first choice, you really shouldn't be locking yourself in.

It's only when both are true that Early Decision becomes the powerful tool it's actually designed to be.

And there's another little wrinkle worth knowing about.

A lot of schools now offer two rounds of binding Early Decision.

Schools like Vanderbilt, Washington University in St. Louis, Johns Hopkins, and UChicago have an Early Decision I deadline, which is around November 1st, and an Early Decision II deadline, usually in early January.

Early Decision II, or ED2, is still fully binding.

It's just a later chance to make that same first-choice commitment, which could be perfect for a student who got deferred or denied somewhere else in December and has a clear second favorite that they truly love.

Lisa: And here's one more piece that families truly cannot skip.

Here's another thing to lean in on. The financial piece.

This is huge because Early Decision, again, is binding. You are committed to attend before you get to compare financial aid packages from other schools.

So you lose that leverage entirely.

Josh: Right. So before any family signs an ED agreement, we recommend that you run the school's net price calculator, have the honest money conversation with your student, and make sure that if the aid comes back at the expected level, this is genuinely affordable.

There is a financial aid escape clause in ED agreements if the aid truly doesn't make it workable, but you don't want to be relying on that.

I've been in several of those conversations with students and parents before. It gets awkward. It gets uncomfortable.

You want to go in with your eyes wide open.

Lisa: And here's the thing. Don't ever let your kiddo fall in love with a binding commitment that your family really can't actually afford.

That heartbreak is completely preventable.

I've been in meetings too, and it is heartbreaking.

So this is where we really wish families, if you can have this conversation early, yes, it might be hard, but it's going to benefit your relationship in the long run.

It kind of goes back to what we said in our very first episode about how your kiddos can handle disappointment. What they can't handle is disappointing you.

This is the same thing. Have this conversation early with your kiddos. It's going to help them set themselves up for success and not failure.

Josh: Yeah, those preventable early conversations are super important. And I always encourage families to have that clear-eyed conversation first before making any decisions.

Lisa: I mean, that's truly the whole episode that we're talking about right now, Josh.

But one more thing families absolutely need to hear, because this trips up families and students every single year. Check the policies every year.

For every school. Because they change constantly.

In fact, right before we even jumped on this podcast, Josh and I had a conversation, and there were some numbers from some schools we just gave y'all that had changed.

They had been updated and weren't updated a week ago. So things change constantly in the college application process.

Josh: Yeah, exactly. And this is very real right now.

Just recently, for example, the University of Michigan added a brand-new binding Early Decision option on top of the non-binding Early Action option they already offer.

So Michigan now offers both, which means when a student says, “I'm applying early to Michigan,” that suddenly means two very different things depending on what plan they're picking.

Lisa: And now USC, Southern California, just added an Early Decision option too for nearly all of their undergraduate programs.

So these are massive, popular universities changing their entire application structure from one year to the next.

So whatever your older sibling did or whatever your neighbor's kid did three years ago, it simply may not be true anymore.

Josh: Yeah. The neighbor's kid, he keeps popping up.

Lisa: He does. I like that you're assuming it's a male too.

Josh: Thanks for calling me on that. Accountability.

So again, check the school's admissions page. Every school, every year.

Don't rely on old information for a decision that's this important.

Lisa: So now let's shift to the second half.

We've talked about the alphabet soup. We've gone through all of the language.

Now let's talk about this. If you apply to these schools and miss the deadline, it's not going to help you anyway.

So we need to come up with a strategy.

Josh: Right. So I want to say something reassuring to students and parents here.

Staying organized in this process is not about being a naturally organized person.

Parents, if you're thinking, “But my kid's room...” some of the most scattered students we've worked with have run pretty organized application seasons because they built a system that worked for them.

Not because they were born with a calendar app open in their hand.

Lisa: And you know this is the part of the podcast that I love because I love a student who is proactive. It's better than being reactive.

So let's talk about a system. Let's give concrete advice and examples here.

Step one: you want to build a master spreadsheet.

Josh: It can be color-coded.

Lisa: It can be! See how we circled back?

Okay. You have a master spreadsheet, and every single school on your list gets a row on this spreadsheet.

Then the columns should have every date for requirements and deadlines.

Josh: Exactly. Application deadline. Application type, so ED, EA, RD for that specific school. Whether the school requires supplements and how many.

Teacher recommendations needed, if they do. Testing requirements.

Financial aid deadlines, which are often different from the admission deadline. Sometimes students forget those and they fall through the cracks.

And a status column so you can see at a glance what's done and what still needs to be done.

Lisa: Right. And I want to flag the financial aid deadline one more time because this is one mistake that can get really expensive, y'all.

A student can hit an admissions deadline perfectly fine, get admitted, and then realize they missed the FAFSA or the CSS Profile or the school's own financial aid deadline.

And now you've probably left money on the table.

The admissions deadline and the financial aid deadline are not always the same date. So please track both.

Getting the application in is only half the job.

Josh: Exactly. And so step two, we always encourage students to work backward from their earliest deadline, not their latest.

If you have anything due November 1st or October 15th, if you're a Georgia kid applying to Georgia Tech, then October is not early.

It's crunch time.

Your essays, recommendation requests, testing, all of that has to be done before that first domino falls.

Lisa: Right. And that actually connects straight back to Episode 8 from last week.

Look at us, Joshua. We are circling back again, making connections.

Josh: Making connections. Making connections.

Lisa: Okay, so if you're going to ask for recommendation letters, of course you're going to ask for them, or you did ask for them, in the spring of your junior year, right?

Because your teachers need weeks, not days, like we talked about last week.

The organized student is not scrambling in October, y'all. They set this up months ago.

Josh: Exactly. And step three, and this is the one families underestimate, build in buffer time.

Students, listen up. Trust me, the last place you want to be is trying to submit an application at 11:58 p.m. the day it's due.

Lisa: Because, y'all, this is something good to remember. And I'm going to dare say this should be our next hashtag or a T-shirt, Josh.

There is no such thing as a college counseling emergency.

Because colleges were very upfront in giving you their deadlines.

Living here in Florida, we've had hurricanes and natural disasters, and Houston as well. There are things like that that are exceptions to the rules.

But for the most part, y'all, colleges have set deadlines months and months ahead of time.

So please do not wait until 11:58.

Portals crash. Wi-Fi goes down. The Common App, I know this is going to be a shocker, has been known to be a slow crawl around deadline nights.

Think about it. Hundreds of thousands of students are all submitting at one time.

So give yourself a buffer of days, not minutes.

Josh: Exactly. We always encourage students to aim to submit two or three days early. Every single time.

Nothing good happens at 11:58 p.m. that couldn't have happened at 6 p.m. two days before.

And a whole lot of bad things have happened in those final two minutes.

So you want to give yourself that buffer time.

Lisa: Right. And here's one tiny technical thing that can save you a whole lot of heartache.

After you submit, make sure it actually submitted.

Check that your payment went through. Look for that confirmation email. Log back on to the application portal after you've submitted.

Whether you used the Common App, Coalition App, UCAS, or another application portal, go back in and make sure it says it actually submitted.

Do not just assume.

Don't say, “Oh my gosh, I did it,” immediately shut your laptop, and assume everything worked.

Josh and I have seen students do that multiple times.

“I thought I submitted it” is not a sentence anybody wants to hear in December when you're going back and checking all of your applications.

Josh: Exactly. And one last thing. Keep track of your logins.

Students, you're going to create accounts on the Common App, UCAS, individual school portals, financial aid systems, testing sites.

Write them down in a secure place.

Whether you have an app on your phone, or if you're old school and like to keep a journal somewhere, whatever works for you, make sure you write them down.

The number of hours families lose to forgotten passwords and resetting things and waiting for emails that maybe do or don't come in the middle of application season is genuinely staggering.

Lisa: Is this glamorous advice that Josh and I are giving you right now? Absolutely not.

But let us tell you something. A spreadsheet and a password list have probably saved more applications from disaster than half of the admission strategy you're going to hear out there right now on your algorithms, TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram.

We promise you, spreadsheets and password lists are it.

That is the best advice.

Josh: Hey man, sometimes boring and simple makes things go.

Lisa: True. True.

Josh: All right, Lisa. Hot Take or Hard Truth time. Why don't you start us off?

Lisa: Okay. Here is mine.

And honestly, I think the whole episode can be summed up in this one sentence.

Early Decision is a commitment. It is not a hack.

If you're applying ED because you think it is a secret way to game the admit rate, instead of being genuinely in love with the school, and you're not a competitive applicant there, y'all, that's not a strategy.

ED can be a powerful tool, but it has to be the right tool for the right student for the right reasons.

Do not treat this like a cheat code.

Josh: Yeah, that's it. And I'm a little frustrated.

You mean to tell me this podcast could have been one sentence? We've been sitting here talking about all this stuff and you've been holding onto this the whole time?

Lisa: Yes, I do. Mm-hmm.

Josh: So my hot take: students and parents, respect the organizational system that you build.

We've watched genuinely brilliant kids, kids who would have been admitted to certain schools, miss out because of a blown deadline.

A portal they didn't check. A financial aid form they didn't know existed.

Talent doesn't get you extensions.

Organization is not boring. It is an important part of the process.

Organization is what protects everything else you've been working for.

Lisa: Right. So the spreadsheet, it's not beneath you. The spreadsheet is your best friend.

Ooh, that could be another T-shirt.

Josh: The spreadsheet is pretty much undefeated. Let's be honest.

Lisa: It is. It is.

Or a sticker. “The spreadsheet is not beneath you. The spreadsheet is your best friend.”

Josh: I could actually do a sticker. That's better.

Lisa: Y'all, you heard it here first. Josh said we can get merch and we can start with a sticker.

Okay, I'm holding you to that.

Josh: Stickers are good.

All right. Drop the Mic, Lisa. Let's do it.

Lisa: Okay, I'm actually ready for this week. I know usually I have to think about this.

Here is what I want every family to take away from this episode.

All of these early application options are just tools. And just like any tool, they only work when you use them for the right job.

Early Action? Great. You get early answers if you're ready.

Early Decision? Only if the school is genuinely your first choice and you actually are a competitive applicant there.

And only if the financial piece makes sense for your family.

Do not use ED as a shortcut. Do not use it because you think it can somehow make up for a profile that's not competitive.

And please do not bind yourself to a school that you do not absolutely love just because you think the admit rate looks better.

And underneath all of this, kiddos, respect the calendar. Build the spreadsheet. Work backward from deadlines. Submit early.

Because a great student who missed a deadline might be one of the saddest sentences you can hear in college admissions.

And it's also one of the most avoidable.

Josh: And my final thought for students this week: the difference between a stressful application season and a calm one is almost never talent.

It comes down to whether you built a system early or whether you let the deadlines control you.

The students who struggle in the fall aren't the ones who weren't smart enough.

They're the ones who were doing everything at the last minute. Writing their essay, chasing that recommendation letter, figuring out the financial aid form, all in the same panicked week.

And the students who sail through? They're not superhuman.

They just started early. They wrote it all down, and they worked backward from that first deadline.

So wherever you are right now, this is your reminder. The calm version of this process is available to you.

It's not about being the most talented kid in the room. It's about building the system now, trusting it, and letting it carry you when things get super busy.

Set it up early. Trust me.

Your future self will be extremely grateful that you did.

Lisa: Right. So build the system now. Respect the deadlines. But most importantly, LOVE where you land.

Josh: Love. Bolded. All caps. Underlined.

Lisa: All caps. Full stop. See? Ooh, I like that. We shared a brain. Sorry about that.

Josh: All right, Lisa. Before we get out of here, next week on The Drop In.

Students, you've submitted. The applications are in.

Now comes what I would say is arguably the hardest part of the process.

Lisa: The waiting.

I think waiting is hard for anything that you do in life.

So what do you actually do after you've turned it in and during that lag time?

Because here's the thing. There's more within your control than you think.

From midyear reports to demonstrated interest to keeping your senioritis in check.

And let's be honest. This might be my hot take for next week, so you're hearing it here early.

Speaking of senioritis, you're not going to get it.

No one needs to get senioritis. So we are volun-telling you right now, you're not getting that.

Josh: That's right. Because students, how you handle the waiting game really does matter.

And it's not just sitting by the mailbox or constantly checking your email or your applicant portal.

Lisa: Right. Because trust us, this part matters more than you think.

Like Josh said, knowing what to do while you wait can save you a whole lot of stress between now and March.

Remember, we're Decision Drop, making your college journey collaborative, simple, but most importantly, yours.

And if you want us to help your kiddo build that timeline, make that smart early application call, or even make sure they never lose a deadline to a crashed portal at 11:58, head to decisiondrop.com and check us out.

Josh: Thanks for dropping in. Please remember to like and subscribe. See y'all next week.

Lisa: Bye.

Lisa Clay

Episode 9: Should You Apply ED? Early Decision, Early Action & Application Deadlines

Podcast Description:

🎙️ Also available on: Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music | iHeart

Top Qustions Answered in this Episode

What is the difference between Early Decision and Early Action?

Is Early Decision binding?

Does applying Early Decision increase your chances of getting into college?

When should a student apply Early Decision?

What is the difference between ED1 and ED2?

How does Early Decision affect financial aid?

How should students organize college application deadlines?

Chapters

Episode 9: Should You Apply ED? Early Decision, Early Action & Application Deadlines

Podcast Description:

🎙️ Also available on: Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music | iHeart

Top Qustions Answered in this Episode

What is the difference between Early Decision and Early Action?

Is Early Decision binding?

Does applying Early Decision increase your chances of getting into college?

When should a student apply Early Decision?

What is the difference between ED1 and ED2?

How does Early Decision affect financial aid?

How should students organize college application deadlines?

Chapters

Episode 8: College Recommendation Letters: Who to Ask, When to Ask, and What Makes a Strong Letter