In the early application round for US university applications, students often apply to one university in the early round (Early Decision or ED) – by November first and get an early result in mid-December. Sometimes, if some of their target universities offer the Early Action option (EA), they might be able to do the same for a number of universities early. More often than not, knowing that an early application might boost their chances of admission – especially in cases where it is ED rather than EA, which means the decision is binding and the student will have to attend if admitted, students will reach for more selective universities. In other words, they will choose a university which might otherwise be slightly out of reach. This is a calculated risk which might give them the results they were hoping for. Of course, the reverse can happen as well with the response from the university being in the negative.
When we get good news, it is cause for great joy in the family. This year, we had a number of students who got into their top choices early, including into the University of Pennsylvania’s super selective Jerome Fisher Management and Technology program, which is a dual degree program between Penn engineering and the Wharton School of Business. The program takes in a maximum of 60 students per year. Other early acceptances were to Stanford, Yale, University of Chicago, Boston College, University of Notre Dame and others, including many Canadian universities and several UK universities. Our congratulations go to all those students. Early acceptances are a relief, giving peace of mind to the students who have worked extra hard to make this possible.
At times when the news is not what the student had hoped for – that being a deferral (meaning the university will move the application to the Regular Round (RD) to be looked at again for a March reply), or when students are faced with a denial – they tend to get caught up in attempts to interpret what those university decisions mean. My general advice to students is to not take it personally, to take a day to mourn the loss and then move on to the applications which remain to be completed. Students should not be disheartened by this news given how competitive the landscape of selective US admissions has become over the years. So many of these universities have acceptance rates in the single digits, some as low as 4-5% and the number of deferrals this year has been extremely high. Students are encouraged to see this as a speed bump on the road to success and be aware that that one denial does not define who they are. All our students will have a balanced list of universities which will include universities that are somewhat of a reach, some that are targets and a couple of options that are safe. Every student, no doubt, will have options to choose from in the regular round and will have four wonderful years in a university that is a good fit for them!