Rising Seniors, Your Time Has Come (Archived, Aug 2019)

Rising Seniors,

Almost all of the college applications for fall of 2020 are open, with a few exceptions (I've noticed Princeton, Tufts, and Clemson so far). This means you can check on all the supplemental essay prompts (and get started on them), and even check to see what applications each college takes (Chapel Hill, for example, has added the Coalition App this year). This is also the time to be finishing up your main (650 word) essay and assembling your list of ten activities (only use activities from tenth grade and up, and be sure to rank them carefully). If you are assiduous about all this, by the time you submit your FAFSA (no sooner than October 1), you'll be ready to launch any applications you like.

In terms of whether to apply Early Decision, Early Action, Early Restrictive Action, or Regular Decision, make that decision carefully. Remember:

Early Decision: you are committing (in a legally binding way) to go to this school if accepted and may not apply Early Decision to any other school. This may increase your chance of admission by 5-8%
Early Action: you are merely asking for your application to be considered earlier
Restrictive Early Action: you are not constrained to go to this school if accepted, but you are not allowed to apply Early Decision or Early Action to any other schools (I've only seen this with Harvard so far, but I'm sure there are others)
Regular Decision: Good old-fashioned decision-making

Keep in mind that while Early Decision might be to your advantage in getting accepted, it decreases your power to compare and possibly negotiate.