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Does Single-Choice EA Preclude Fall Regular-Decision Application?

Written by Sally Rubenstone | June 20, 2007

Question: I plan to apply to Yale, my number-one college, via Single-Choice Early Action, but--in the meantime--I'd like to also apply to my safety school, which has Rolling Admission. Can I do that under the Yale Single-Choice EA rules? Is Early Action a wise move?

Yale does not put any restrictions on regular-decision applications, but by applying to Yale via Single-Choice Early Action, you must sign a statement saying that you are not applying to any other institutions using an Early Action or Early Decision option.

If Yale is your first choice, then you should certainly give it a shot via EA unless your junior year was weaker than your previous school terms. In that case, you might want to hold back and wait for regular decision. But if you had a strong junior year, then you have nothing to lose by applying Early Action, and if you are denied outright in December, it will give you time to reconsider all your choices and perhaps revise your target-college list. You can apply to your safety school concurrently, as long as it's not through EA or ED.

Good luck (and, at Yale, you'll probably need it!)

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.