Seniors take advantage of the college acceptance process
Senior year comes with a lot of pressure; people are applying to college, trying to figure out what they want to do, yet in the midst of all the chaos, some have it all taken care of.
Early action and early decision are two important components that fall into place when making an informed college decision. Making the move to apply early action comes with early results that are non-binding, meaning the student does not have to commit to the particular school if admitted. On the contrary, early decision consists of a binding contract between the student and school, meaning that the student must attend the school if they decide to take this pathway.
Rindi Kessler, senior, was admitted to Texas Christian University with early decision and had no regret with having a single choice when admitted.
“I would say the main factor (to apply early decision) would be that I was very driven to go there, so I knew that’s what I wanted to do and that little push, that little help going to school and emphasizing ‘I want to be at your school,’ so I think that was the main push,” Kessler said.
Christopher Osgood, another senior who chose to apply college early, was admitted to Stanford with early action. Osgood plans to compete competitively with Stanford’s gymnastics program.
“Early action has double the acceptance rate. I think it has 10%, whereas overall it is 5%, so that helps, “Osgood said. “The stanford head coach for gymnastics gave me like a letter of support and that letter of support might only work with early action.”
Though Kessler and Osgood know where they will be attending, many seniors still await application feedback. Olivia Johnson, senior, opted not to apply with early action or early decision, but knows she made the right choice.
“I really weighed my options through early action. I obviously don’t want to rush but also I compared both the possibilities of if I did early action or I didn’t, what would have been better? The difference wasn’t that drastic at all. With early action, I wasn’t really gaining a head start anyway,” Johnson said.
No matter what a senior decides to do, Kessler offered advice to future students that will endure this process in coming years.
“Early decision is hard, because you need to know you want that school, so I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone. Especially if you don’t know where you want to go or what you want to do, but I would definitely recommended early action for students, because it helps with your stress level and it can definitely be a more fun process in the long run,” Kessler said.
