No one has ever, and will ever, say that the college application and commitment process is easy. This winter and spring, high school seniors from all over the country will check their emails and student portals warily and consistently in hopes that a decision has been made. However, there is no one with more stake in the game than Early Decision applicants.
Applying Early Decision, or ED, to a college, in short, is signing the commitment contract ahead of time: if you get in, you must attend. It is an extremely tough decision to make, especially with the copious amount of both pros and cons the extremity has to offer.
Applying Early Decision is not unheard of. In fact, a select group of Nanuet seniors took that application path hoping for acceptance to prestigious schools such as Columbia University, Villanova University, Johns Hopkins University, Brown University, and Cornell University.
The intricate decision-making process begins with seeing the campus for the first time, such as for Senior Sam Dow, a Hopkins commit.
“From the second I stepped on Hopkins’ campus, I knew that it was exactly where I wanted to be,” raved Dow. “It just felt so right. It made it impossible to imagine myself anywhere else.”
However, things are always this straightforward, such as for a Columbia applicant.
“I’ve heard of many people having a love at first sight experience, but for me it was a much more gradual process,” she said. “I did love the campus, but as I started to research and learn more about the school, I fell in love with the opportunities and curriculum style.”
But for one Cornell applicant from Nanuet, it was not the campus that compelled them to choose ED.
“Seeing the campus wasn’t what made me click into choosing to ED,” they said, “but it forced me to picture what my life could potentially look like in these next four years.”
Early Decision applications can actually ease some of the mental struggles and turmoil that “decision season,” or the spring of senior year, can bring. This was the case for a Cornell applicant.
“The biggest upside to early decision is having the whole application process and getting your decision back earlier in the year,” claimed Dow. “It definitely takes a lot of stress off.”
However, there is certainly a lot to be said for the schools that one makes such a commitment to. A student must feel that this is the only true place for them, which is the case for one Nanuet Columbia applicant.
“To a certain degree, no matter where you go you’ll still learn the same concepts in your major,” she said. “What’s more difficult to teach is effective communication and powerful leadership. I think that this school would truly teach me how to be a leader in society, which led to my decision.”
The biggest argument against applying early decision is the financial component, according to a Nanuet Cornell applicant.
“If you get accepted, you have to either agree to pay what the university charges you, or you have to give up your chance to attend without knowing what other schools are offering you,” she stated. “I would highly recommend encouraging your parents to fill out a tuition calculator.”
Along with this, there are a lot of “what-ifs” the early decision process eliminates, according to Dow.
“I think a downside could be never knowing what other schools you could’ve gotten into,” she said. “But that doesn’t matter too much if you end up at your dream school.”
There are a lot more intangible reasons to have some apprehension this season, such as for our Columbia applicant, who put the apprehension into words expertly.
“The biggest downside for me is definitely a doubt that I made the wrong decision,” she said. “The acceptance rates for ED applicants are so much higher, that it seems like a special card you can use only once. There’s a fear that I chose the wrong school to give my binding decision school.”
But the decision becomes an easy one when you know there is no other school you would choose, according to that student.
“It’s called a dream school for a reason, and I think being able to chase that dream is really exciting to me,” she said.
Most Early Decision results come out on December 15th, known as “ED Day,” a day many seniors eagerly await.
“No matter if I get accepted or not,” the Columbia applicant said. “I know I took the leap and reached for my dream.”