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Applying Via Early Action, Early Decision and Rolling Admission -- All at Once

Written by Sally Rubenstone | Oct. 3, 2011

Question: If I wanted to apply to a college that has Rolling Admissions, would I be restricted in applying Early Decision or Early Action to other colleges? Basically, could you apply to a college with Rolling Admissions and at the same time apply to a college Early Action and then, if both of those options are unsuccessful, apply Regular Decision?

Remember back in kindergarten when your teacher told you how important it was to follow directions? Well, you may need those skills more than ever as you trudge through the confusing college-admission maze. :(

If you are applying Early Action or Early Decision, you must locate a description of that option on the college's Web site to see if any “restrictions" apply. Note that the policies at one college may not be the same as those at similar schools, so read those Web instructions well!

Typically, an Early Action application doesn't prevent you from applying to another college via a non-binding Rolling Admission policy. Usually (but not always), you can also apply Early Action to other colleges concurrently. In most cases, you can apply to one college Early Decision, too (as long as you understand that you must accept the Early Decision spot, if it is offered).

BUT some Early Action colleges put restrictions on where else you can apply during the EA round. For example, colleges with “Single-Choice Early Action" prohibit you from applying elsewhere via Early Action or Early Decision (but exceptions can be made for public-university EA programs, so check Web sites carefully). However, you can apply elsewhere via non-binding rolling admission plans.

You may also encounter limitations such as those imposed by Boston College and Georgetown University that do allow Early Action applicants to apply elsewhere via Early Action but not via binding Early Decision.

So, to answer your question succinctly, you CAN apply via rolling admission and Early Action (or Early Decision) simultaneously. But if you are accepted at an Early Decision college, you are committed to attend (unless the financial aid offer you receive makes it impossible to do so. In that case, you can withdraw without penalty.)

If you are denied outright in the Early round (or via Rolling Admission) you cannot reapply. However, if you are deferred in the Early round, you will automatically be reconsidered with the Regular Decision applicant pool.

For more information on this confounding topic, check out "'Early action' isn't always as simple as it looks" by independent counselor Nancy Griesemer.

Good luck to you as you navigate this maze.

(posted 10/3/2011)

Sally Rubenstone

Sally Rubenstone knows the competitive and often convoluted college admission process inside out: From the first time the topic of college comes up at the dinner table until the last duffel bag is unloaded on a dorm room floor. She is the co-author of Panicked Parents' Guide to College Admissions; The Transfer Student's Guide to Changing Colleges and The International Student's Guide to Going to College in America. Sally has appeared on NBC's Today program and has been quoted in countless publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Weekend, USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, People and Seventeen. Sally has viewed the admissions world from many angles: As a Smith College admission counselor for 15 years, an independent college counselor serving students from a wide range of backgrounds and the author of College Confidential's "Ask the Dean" column. She also taught language arts, social studies, study skills and test preparation in 10 schools, including American international schools in London, Paris, Geneva, Athens and Tel Aviv. As senior advisor to College Confidential since 2002, Sally has helped hundreds of students and parents navigate the college admissions maze. In 2008, she co-founded College Karma, a private college consulting firm, with her College Confidential colleague Dave Berry, and she continues to serve as a College Confidential advisor. Sally and her husband, Chris Petrides, became first-time parents in 1997 at the ripe-old age of 45. So Sally was nearly an official senior citizen when her son Jack began the college selection process, and when she was finally able to practice what she had preached for more than three decades.