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Articles / Applying to College / Early Action to MIT Plus Early Decision to Penn?

Early Action to MIT Plus Early Decision to Penn?

Sally Rubenstone
Written by Sally Rubenstone | Oct. 7, 2016

Question: If I apply Early Decision to Upenn can I also apply Early Action to MIT? I know that if I get into UPenn then I will have to go there which is fine as they are actually my first choice (business), but am I also allowed to apply early action to MIT. MIT's website was very clear: “MIT Early Action is an option for all applicants, domestic and international. Our Early Action isn't single-choice, binding, or anything like that. If you choose to apply to MIT during Early Action, we do not place any limits on where else you may apply, nor do we require you to attend if admitted (though we sure hope you do!) " However, I could not find the answer in Penn's website.

You CAN apply Early Decision to Penn and also Early ACTION to MIT.


Oddly enough, Penn imposed a weird new rule this year saying that their Early Decision candidates can't apply Early ACTION to other private institutions. But apparently they caught a lot of grief for it (maybe they heard what “The Dean" was thinking 😉 ) so a couple weeks ago they recanted!

This frees you up to submit concurrent Early applications to both Penn and MIT, as long as you understand (and you clearly do) that you must attend Penn if you're lucky enough to be accepted by both schools.

Good luck!

Written by

Sally Rubenstone

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.

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