While the moment of truth usually comes in early spring for most
college-bound high school seniors, a handful of local students are
already sleeping more soundly having received their college
acceptance letters over winter break.
Hollister – While the moment of truth usually comes in early spring for most college-bound high school seniors, a handful of local students are already sleeping more soundly having received their college acceptance letters over winter break.
“Early decision,” an option which allows students a head start in the college application process, has become an increasingly popular choice nationwide in the 10 or so years since the first programs were offered. Locally, however, only a small portion of seniors take advantage of such programs, and those that do have some big decisions to make before they apply, according to San Benito High School officials.
“When a student applies early action, they’re demonstrating a commitment to that school,” said SBHS counselor Jim Caffiero. “In turn, that school will have a tendency to want to commit to them.”
Most private universities in the United States offer some form of early action for prospective students, and some public schools do as well. However, neither the University of California nor California State University systems recognize early applications. Most SBHS students apply to state schools, according to Caffiero, so the question of whether or not to apply early decision would not come up.
But for a student dead-set on attending a certain school, early decision offers a slight edge over students applying later in the fall or winter, as well as peace of mind; most early decision acceptance letters are sent over the winter holidays, whereas regular acceptance letters are typically sent in March or April.
“If you apply early action, they tend to be a bit more forgiving with your application,” said Magali Ferare, an SBHS senior who recently was accepted to Stanford University. “I know I must have made a few typos on my application, but they still admitted me.”
The actual process of applying early decision, apart from the earlier deadline, is essentially the same as it is for students applying later in the year; students may pay an additional fee, however, to account for the fast turnaround of the applications.
However, many early decision programs are binding – meaning that if a student is accepted, he or she is forced to withdraw applications from other universities. Students can be left stuck, then, with a big-name school that is ill-suited to their personalities, or with insufficient financial aid. Other schools refuse to consider students if they don’t make the cut during early decision – they reject the student and move on to applications submitted during the regular period.
“I have a couple of concerns before I can recommend that a student go for early action,” said Mario Ferrito, AP English Literature and Composition teacher at SBHS. “It depends on the college, whether that’s really what a student wants and whether admission is contingent upon withdrawing your applications from other schools… But as long as that’s taken into consideration, I think it’s fine, even a better choice.”
In recent years, many schools have chosen to offer students “early action” options, which often are not binding but may cost an additional fee. Some schools also allow students to be considered for regular admission if they don’t make the initial early action cut.
“I received word from Harvard that my early application had been deferred,” said SBHS senior Brian Roach. “So now I’ll have to wait until April 1 to find out, and wait for my other applications, too… I would still recommend early action to other students – it still gives you an advantage, even if it’s slight.”
According to Caffiero, very few SBHS students choose early admission, and of those who do, he has never seen a student wind up in a bad situation because of it. Although he added that financial difficulties always pose a challenge, regardless of which schools a student is admitted to.
And those students who are excepted early still don’t have time for too many shenanigans over the last few months of their high school career.
“I feel better knowing that I was accepted, but they can still rescind my admission if I don’t get Bs or better for the rest of the year,” Ferare said. “I had kind of wanted to slack off, stay home and watch ‘Reading Rainbow,’ that sort of thing, but now I can’t.”
Danielle Smith covers education for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected]
