Fall, a time where the summer starts to fade away and hard work comes in to play. For seniors all around the nation this is one of the most stressful times of their entire lives. Why you may ask? It’s all because of College Applications. Most college applications start allowing you to fill them out around September and November. In most cases colleges give students until November for Early Decision and Action, and until January for Regular Decision. All of this may sound quite confusing, but don’t worry Sea Kings! Here’s the breakdown between the difference in these types of applications.

 Early Decision:

With this deadline being in November, early decision is for kids who know exactly what they are looking for (in a college?). Early Decision is often a binding agreement that where the student applies early and signs a waiver stating that if they were admitted into the school that they will attend no matter what. Usually student’s will hear back within a couple of weeks all the way up to January in some cases. Student’s typically only apply under this application if they know for sure that this school is the right choice for them.

Early Action:

  Not as quite the same as Early Decision, Early Action is still a great way to show a school that you would be the perfect fit for them.  Unlike in early decision, students who apply early Action  submit applications around November and are not legally binded with the school .  Another thing that is different about Early Action is that students don’t have to decide right away if they would like to attend the school. You have until that school’s regular decisions come out which isn’t until March.“

Regular Decision:

 This option is the most common way when doing college applications. With the applications coming out in August, this gives seniors usually until late December to early January to complete their essays and their full application ready to submit to their colleges of their choice. Some seniors enjoy this route because it gives them time to improve their test scores or even try to share with the school their end of their senior year grades. This also gives student’s much more time to work harder and longer on their essays and personal statements.

Tips on how to make your college application amazing:

1. Plan ahead & make a calendar for all of your applications.

This will help with your organization skills and will definitely pay off in the long run when you are trying to plan out what you need to do. It is never too early to start working on applications. Waiting to finish them all while juggling school work and extracurriculars may take away from perfecting your resume. One tip is to plan out when to specifically work on each essay during allotted time-frames so you never fall behind.

1. Show your interest in that particular school.

In addition high GPAs, extracurriculars, and strong essays, colleges want to admit students who will choose to attend when they receive an acceptance letter. Visiting campuses, going to college visits in the CCC, or applying early all show your interest in that particular college and may improve your chances of acceptance.

1. Do your research on any programs offered at the college or university.
   This way you can narrow down your options to schools that you are sure that you can succeed in. Illustrating that you’ve done the research on specific programs you are interested will also reflect strongly in your college essays and will impress admissions officers reviewing your apps.

1. Pay attention to supplements & other optional factors.

Every college is different in their supplemental and testing requirements. Look at each and every school at what they ask for. Are SAT Subject Tests optional? Do you have to write more supplements for that college in comparison to other schools? Keeping track of these things will help you organize your time and will prevent gaps in your resume.

1. Know ahead of time what colleges you would like to apply too as Regular Decision, Early Action, and Early Decision.

This is by far one of the most important things. By the beginning at September latest, start narrowing down your list. One tip that was brought up by seniors is to rank the schools you like. This should help when deciding  Early Action, Early Decision, and Regular Decision. When you do this on your college list, then take into factor the different scholarship opportunities and other different options that are decided.