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I have been trying to get some abbreviations clear in my mind and I'm not sure if I've been successful, so I thought I'd ask here for some clarification.

Could someone please explain thoroughly the following abbreviations:

ED

EA

RD

Thanks in advance.

By Roger (Roger) on Saturday, May 25, 2002 - 05:54 pm: Edit

Hi, Victoria. Check the Early Decision & Early Action article in our Ask The Dean section.

If that's not thorough enough, c'mon back & ask for more!

By Victoria Burns (Ohiomom) on Saturday, May 25, 2002 - 07:01 pm: Edit

I'm headed there now...send the mounties if I don't respond shortly LOL

Thanks ;)

By Victoria Burns (Ohiomom) on Saturday, May 25, 2002 - 07:10 pm: Edit

Ok that was quicker than I thought. Let's see how I did...

ED means you apply early, IF you are certain this is THE school for you...you apply to only ONE school ED and should hear something by Christmas as to whether or not you've been accepted. You pay a deposit and it's a done deal.

Question: Do you find out at the same time about any merit/financial aid you will recieve from the college?

EA means about the same thing as ED, except you are not bound by any agreement. Then you have until May to accept admission to the school.

Question: Can you apply to more than one school EA? Also same as above question on ED...do you find out at that time about any aid awarded?

I didn't see anything on that page about RD. Can you explain this to me please.

One other question. Can you apply to one school ED and another EA at the same time?

Thanks again.

By Roger (Roger) on Saturday, May 25, 2002 - 07:21 pm: Edit

RD is Regular Decision - you apply under the "normal" schedule, and you hear when everyone else does. Apps that aren't EA or ED (i.e., most applications) are RD.

One related term: Rolling Admissions. Some colleges will process applications as they are received, and send acceptances/rejections out fairly quickly. Many state universities do this. It's nice to use a rolling admissions school as a safety, so the safety is already in place while the student is still working on the other apps.

Usually, ED schools will give at least a preliminary readout on financial aid if you have provided them with your information. They may say the award is preliminary, since you won't have your final 1040s, etc. by that date.

Note that deadlines and details may vary somewhat between schools, so be sure to read up on what their timing is, etc.

In general, I'd use ED only for a situation where the student is certain that school is his/her #1 choice, and that it will probably be affordable with a "typical" aid package. You can ballpark your award by estimating your EFC (expected family contribution). Individual schools have their own wrinkles, but if a college looks completely unaffordable based on your estimated EFC, I wouldn't recommend ED. (One exception might be a school where the student is in the top range of applicants, and might well expect merit aid.)

By Victoria Burns (Ohiomom) on Saturday, May 25, 2002 - 08:23 pm: Edit

Thanks I think I have it cleared up now.

But a couple of questions you didn't answer:

Question: Can you apply to more than one school EA?

One other question. Can you apply to one school ED and another EA at the same time?

By Roger (Roger) on Saturday, May 25, 2002 - 08:57 pm: Edit

Multiple EAs shouldn't be a problem, and an ED/EA combo should be OK if you recognize that you will have to go with the ED college if they accept. EA seems to be shrinking in availability, perhaps because it offers significant advantages to the student without much of an advantage to the college. Conversely, ED lets colleges lower their acceptance rates by locking in a major portion of their class - with near-100% yield.

By Roger (Roger) on Wednesday, May 29, 2002 - 11:14 pm: Edit

Just a quick additional note - check the details of the EA policy at the school(s) of interest - some may object to another ED app... I'm not sure why, since EA is non-binding.

By TeuTon on Tuesday, July 02, 2002 - 11:08 am: Edit

As far as the EA/ED I think you missed the recent news regarding it. EA is increasing in availability (especially among the elite schools). Recently the NACAC said that a student may apply to one ED and numerous EA's.

Harvard is hinting that they will have no qualms 'stealing' ED kids from other schools if they are accepted into Harvard. Its a new frontier that could drastically alter EA/ED. ED will, atleast among the elite, be gone with 2 or 3 yrs.

Yale is in 'purgatory' so to say this yr. They are on the verge of eliminating ED. This year ED at Yale is binding only if Yale gives you more money then whatever school you choose to go. Its not complete EA ofcourse, but it is not ED as it was once known.

Regardless however, a school will never truly bind a student. I doubt that they would ever sue a student for swicthing schools, and if they did they would probably lose the lawsuit and lose their repuation.

The only school that is stuck on ED, and is not budging at this time seems to be Princeton. They are not following the NACAC rules regarding the new ruling. Hagardon over at Princeton keeps looking for the 'Princeton' type and he has hinted he would that he would make sure that the ED yield is 100%.

But more to the point Victoria, based on the new rules yes you can do EA/ED concurrently, and depending on the school ED is binding in most circumstances (usually ED can be broken based on monetary reasons).

Also I believe all major EA schools (Harvard, MIT, Caltech, UChicago, and Georgetown) allow you to apply to an unlimited number of EA schools. I am not sure about every EA school, but once again according to the new NACAC rules you can.

By Ohiomom (Ohiomom) on Tuesday, July 02, 2002 - 01:06 pm: Edit

Thanks for the update and additional information. I appreciate it.