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When applying to universities, especially those abroad, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the surfeit of different deadlines within each application. Many applications have different options within each — rolling, early and regular. It becomes extremely difficult to juggle these various deadlines and navigate through different applications, without some plan or timeline that organises each of your tasks around. To make it easier for you to make such a plan for college application deadlines, I thought it would help to compile all information about dates and tips or strategies for planning comprehensively in one place. Most of my information will cater to US and UK universities (as they are the most popular choices and often the ones with most deadlines).
Please keep in mind that your specific university may not fall into the categories outlined in this blog and I strongly urge you to research the facts related to your college. Even if your college is mentioned here, please note that deadlines sometimes change from year to year and it’s always better to double check through your college website and Common App application. With that in mind, let’s dive in.
US applications
US college applications are complicated because different universities have different systems and hence, different deadlines. There are usually four types of applications US universities offer
Regular Decision (RD)
Most students apply to college university through Regular Decision — a non-binding application. For most universities, regular decision applications are usually due in the period between 1st-15th January with 1st January being the most popular due date. There are some universities that have later deadlines in February, March or April. All Ivy-league applications are due in the first few days of January (1st Jan-5th Jan).
Students that apply in regular decision usually hear back from the university in March or April. An important exception to this type of applications is those for the schools in the University of California System. Their application is separate from the others in more ways than one. Firstly, the deadline for the UCs is November 30. Second, college application to the UCs does not occur through Common App (the common platform used by most universities),
Early Decision (ED)
This application involves a binding contract. It’s an option for students who know their first choice of university for certain. By applying early through ED, you are telling the chosen university that not only are they your first choice but that if you get in, you will accept for sure and withdraw all other applications. Most ED applications are due in the period 1st-15th November (but check the website for the exact date for your specific university). You hear back from the university in December.
The incentive to apply through ED for students is that it increases their chances of getting in as it shows the university that they are the most passionate about their program and the applicant pool they are in competition with is also much smaller. Keep in mind though that while the applicant pool for ED is smaller, it’s also more competitive as only the students best suited to the university apply through ED.
Some universities also offer ED II which is binding but is due in January. While the benefit of ED is that it tells the university that you are so committed to the idea of attending that you have signed a contract and sent your application in early, the disadvantage of ED is that it requires you to commit fully to a university before seeing if they offer the amount of financial aid you are seeking (if you require financial aid).
Therefore applying ED is an important decision as not only do you have to finish your application and submit the required materials early but you also need to be sure that you are willing to and able to attend your chosen university should you get in. With Early Decision, you can get accepted, rejected or deferred. In the case of deferred, you are relegated automatically to the regular decision cycle where you’ll be considered with all the other applicants. If you are deferred, it means that the university likes your application, but there were more well-suited candidates for the early decision seats, so you are left in the pile of applications still being considered.
Early Action (EA)
Some universities offer EA applications which are due in November (usually November 1st to 15th) and which you also hear back from in December. It’s similar to Early Decision in that it gives students the chance to show how eager they are about the university, but with one key difference it is not binding. You are not required to accept should you get in and can apply to other universities. Some universities like Stanford have Restrictive Early Action which is not binding but restricts your ability to apply EA to multiple schools; ergo you can only apply EA to one school, preferably your top choice.
Rolling Admissions (RA)
While several US universities operate on the decision cycle outlined above, there are those that offer students a window of time during which they can apply. The window is usually all year long till classes start, beginning in the fall and going on till the spring. Usually you hear back in 4-8 weeks after you apply. The deadlines for such universities are not as stringently reinforced as those with the decision cycle. However, the window is only open for as long as there are seats remaining, so it still helps to get in your application early.
Some universities that offer this type of admission are University of Alabama, University of Pittsburgh and Arizona State University. Other universities like Michigan State University and Penn State university offer Early Action, Regular Decision and rolling admissions which involve any application submitted after February 1st (when the regular cycle ends).
So, how do you send all the parts of your application in time for either of these deadlines? Well, that’s the tricky part because some parts of your application may have to be sent beforehand. Some universities have interviews that would be before the written application is sent. For such deadlines, please check your university’s website or email their administration office. In addition to this, some important tips about items to take care of in your checklist are
Sending the SAT
Generally, colleges prefer to have your formal SAT score report through College Board. You can send four free score reports 9 days after taking the test, but before seeing your results. If you decide to wait and see your score, the College Board offers you the choice of sending your best SAT score to universities in case you took the SAT multiple times, but each score report costs $12. It takes 1-2 weeks for the score report to reach the university. You want to make sure you send your score report so that it reaches the university before the application deadline. If you already have taken the SAT and decided the score to send, it’s always best to send the report early so as to not cut it too close.
Financial Aid
If you are a US citizen, you are eligible to apply for FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Students Aid). Applications open on the 1st of October (in the year prior to enrollment) and close on the 30th of June. However, to be eligible for state sponsored financial aid, you may have to comply with the FAFSA deadlines for the particular state your university is in. In general, it’s best to send them as early as possible so that you are eligible for all possible aid.
Recommendation letters
These are due along with the rest of your application. It’s always best to ask as early as possible as teachers may be bombarded with multiple requests, so you want to make sure that they have written yours in advance. You don’t want to be worrying about it close to the deadline.
English requirement
If you are an international student, most US college universities will require you to prove your proficiency in the English language by taking either the TOEFL or IELTS. Make sure you give yourself enough time to take either of these tests, get the results and send them to your university before the application deadline.
Essays
The Common App application opens on the first of August but you can start thinking about your Common App essay beforehand (going by last year’s prompts as they are usually similar in style. I highly recommend that you start working on your Common App Essay drafts immediately after the application is released. Additionally, most university applications like their supplemental essays are made available by August or latest September, so you can start working on that as well from the beginning of your senior year.
Also read The Ultimate Guide To UC Colleges A Comprehensive Ranking And Comparison
UK Applications
UK applications are more straightforward as they have relatively fewer deadlines that are more or less fixed. You can only apply to 5 UK universities through UCAS. There are two main deadlines to keep in mind and please check the UCAS website because they change every year. For 2024, the deadlines are as follows
- 16th October 2023 (for 2024 entry) at 1800 (UK time) Applications for any course at Oxford and Cambridge are due. In addition to this, applications to any university for courses in medicine, veterinary medicine/science, and dentistry are also due then.
- 31st January 2024 (for 2024 entry) at 1800 (UK time) Applications for the majority of courses in universities besides Oxbridge are due.
- March Some art and design courses are due at this time, but it depends on the course and university you are considering.
- 30th June 2024 (for 2024 entry) It’s the last date to apply anywhere in the UK for undergraduate courses.
Here are a few dates to keep in mind
- You can usually start your application in May (16th May 2023 for 2024 entry), but cannot submit till September (5th September 2023 for 2024 entry).
- Another deadline to remember is the UCAS Extra deadline that allows you to add an additional university to your 5 initial choices if you have not accepted any of the offers or were rejected by them all.
- UCAS Extra opens in 28th February 2024 (for 2024 entry) for those who are not holding any offers out of the 5 choices.
- The last date to add an extra university is June 30th and you can gain a place in the new choice between the period 23rd February – 4th July.
- After June 30th, if you submit an application, it goes into UCAS Clearing which is for applicants whose exam results didn’t reach the university in time or who fell short of the conditional offer requirements or those who didn’t receive any offers or didn’t accept any offers.
- If you submit an application after June 30th, it may be used by UK universities to fill in vacancies in courses starting in September.
All these applications mainly apply to traditionally September-start programs, which are the majority of courses in the UK.
And there you have it. These are the important deadlines to bear in mind as you gear up for your senior year. The key takeaway should be that being the early bird in filling out applications (even if you are doing regular decision or rolling admissions) pays off because it reduces your stress and evenly distributes your workload throughout the year so that it doesn’t pile up at the last minute. Please be sure to double check the exact dates for your specific university at their website. Being late with applications because of an oversight on your part would ruin all your hard work. Create a list of the dates for all your universities beforehand so that you can plan your applications around them. If you do that, then you are good to go!
