The college search process, especially at high-selective institutions, comes with a lot of new vocabulary. For families going through this process for the first time, there’s a lot to learn. Here is a cheat sheet with a few good vocab words to know:
Holistic application: A holistic application looks at more than just a student’s GPA and test scores. Holistic reviews usually take into account a student’s coursework throughout high school, volunteering, student activities and involvement, an essay, or even potentially an interview. Holistic applications are intended to look at the whole student, beyond the numbers.
Rolling admission: Rolling Admission means that students can apply at any time during a large window. Colleges review applications as they receive them, and make admissions decisions shortly after receiving applications, typically within a few weeks.
Early Action (EA): Early Action is an opportunity for students to apply to colleges early in their senior year, and find out about admission earlier. Deadlines for EA tend to be in October or November, and students often receive admission decisions in December, instead of having to wait until the spring. Early Action is a non-binding process, meaning that students can apply Early Action to multiple schools, and if admitted, they are not committed to attending.
Early Decision (ED): Early Decision is similar in timeline to EA, but it is a binding process. Students can only apply ED to one institution, and if they are admitted, then they are committed to attending that college, and must withdraw all applications to other schools. Students should only apply ED if a school is truly their top choice.
Regular Decision: The Regular Decision timeline is the counterpart to EA and ED. By applying regular decision, students will find out if they are admitted typically by April 1st. Students can apply regular decision to as many schools as they’d like, and have until May 1st to make their final college decisions and accept their offer of admission. If a student applies Early Action, but is not admitted in the fall, their application is sometimes rolled back to the regular decision pool, and they would find out if they were admitted in April.
Waitlist: Many highly-selective institutions maintain a waitlist once admission decisions are made. If students are not admitted in early April, they may not be outright denied admission, but will instead be put on a waitlist. If admitted students decline their offer, and a spot opens up, a student on the waitlist may yet be offered admission.
Acceptance Rate: A college or university’s acceptance rate is the percentage of applicants that are admitted to that institution. Some highly selective institutions have acceptance rates as low as four percent, meaning that only four percent of the students that apply to these schools are admitted. Remember -- a low acceptance rate is not necessarily an indication of quality. Don’t get too caught up on the numbers. If you are applying to an institution with a very low acceptance rate, be to have a back-up plan.
One good thing to note: timelines and application processes are different everywhere, so be sure to check with the specific schools you’re applying to in order to best understand their timeline and expectations. This can be a complicated process, and there is a lot to learn for everyone, so always be sure to ask questions!
