Advice for early rounds in admissions

Early round admission decisions will continue to be released through February 2026. Here is some important information and advice on what to do next.

  1. Accepted: Congrats you gained acceptance through either an early action (non binding) or early decision (binding) round of admission.

    Note: Some acceptances may have curve balls, like you will need to do your first semester abroad or at a satellite campus. They still consider this an offer/acceptance.

    TO DO: Plan to attend an accepted student day event in early 2026.

  2. Deferred: When a student gets deferred from either applying early decision or early action, your application gets moved to regular decision. *If you applied early decision and your application gets moved to regular decision, your admission is no longer binding.*

    You are still in the running for admission. There are many reasons why a student’s application may be deferred to regular admission.

    The admissions committee may want to see the student’s mid-semester grades, review most recent standardized test scores, compare the applicant to the regular decision applicant pool, or they ran out of time and did not have the chance to review every application that was submitted in the early round so they needed to defer some to the Regular round.

    TO DO: If the college or university allows, accept being deferred to regular admissions in your portal. I highly recommend that you write a letter of continued interest (LOCI) if the school is your first choice and if they accept a LOCI.

    This will communicate to the college that you intend to attend if granted admission. In the LOCI, you should express a deep interest in the college. Describe your visit to the college, mention a club or activity you would get involved in upon matriculating, discuss your intended major or delve into an area of study you’d like to pursue while attending this university. Make sure you clearly state that you will attend if granted admission to the college or university so there is no doubt that you will attend.

  3. Denied: The magic word here is pivot. No student is admitted into every school they apply to. Focus on the ones you are admitted to.

    TO DO: Make a plan to attend admitted student days in early 2026 for the schools you were admitted to.

Regular admission round decisions are typically released in March/April each Spring. Continue to check your portals, keep up your grades and above all else, enjoy your senior year and be true to yourself.

If you would like to learn more about the college admissions journey, contact Suzanne for a free consultation.

10 Tips for Completing the Common Application

The Common App is convenient as it allows students to apply to multiple colleges and universities at once with the same inputted information and college essay.

As convenient as the Common App may be, many students make mistakes inputting their information. Here are some tips on how to avoid typical mistakes.

  1. Deadlines: The Common App goes live on August 1st of each year. So a student can start to submit any time after that especially for a school that has rolling admissions or early decision or early action. Keep track of deadlines. It is very important to not miss a deadline or you will miss out on submitting your Common App.

  2. Personal Information: A student must input their personal information about basic information. It is important that the student ask a parent or guardian for any information they may need to complete this section accurately. (Typically, a student doesn’t know when their parent graduated from college, for example.)

  3. Activities Section: The goal of the activities section is to share with the Admissions Committee your involvement in extracurricular involvement. Activities should be organized from the most important to the least important. There are ten spots to list activities. Use these spots wisely. A student only has a limited space to describe each activity. Write your description clearly.

  4. Common App Essay: The student will submit a 650 word essay answering one of the prompts listed on the Common App. Copy/paste the essay into your common app. Do not attach a document. This does not always work. The essay should be a non-fiction personal narrative. The essay should share a part of you that is not found anywhere else on the application and that only you can write.

  5. Resume: Not all schools ask for a resume to be submitted but if a school does, definitely submit one. It will help explain your activities, honors and accomplishments in more detail than the activities section of the Common App.

  6. Standardized Tests: Most colleges and universities have stayed test optional. But if you decide to submit your SAT or ACT score, it should be within the 50% percentile of what the college looks for. Average test scores have gone up due to schools being test optional so be wise about whether you submit your score.

  7. Supplemental Essays: Students will be able to review whether or not a college or university asks students to respond to a supplemental essay prompt(s). These are specific to each school. Be sure that if a school says it’s optional to submit anyway. Be as specific as possible when answering supplemental essay questions. Stay on point.

  8. Proofread: Make sure to proofread your Common App answers. Have a parent, teacher or school counselor read through your application.

  9. Email Address: Please use an appropriate email address when applying to college. Do not use your high school email address. If you need to create a new address, please do so. This is how admissions offices communicate with you; they will send you an email to check your admissions portal/account.

  10. Last, make sure to hit submit! Some students forget to make the time to submit their Common App. Set time aside to submit your Common App. Good Luck!
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