Regular Admission
Regular admissions are reviewed together after applications are closed. No
decisions are made until all of these applications are reviewed.
Rolling Admission
Rolling admissions are much more flexible to applicants, giving a larger window to apply and are reviewed at a “first-come, first-serve” basis - this gives
applicants the incentive to apply early to hear back from admissions as soon as
possible.
Open Admission
Open admissions are typical in community and online colleges; in which applicants
that have met their respective college's prerequisites are generally accepted.
Some colleges allow for early admissions, which allows prospective students
to apply before an earlier deadline and receive results ahead of regular admissions.
Early Decision
For confident and prospective students, early decision allows for early
committment to a college; though this is very restictive in that applicants, if
accepted, must attend this college.
Violating Early Decision Agreements will get applicants into trouble!
Early Action
Similar to Early Decision, though students are not fully committed to the college
when applied and can continue to apply for other colleges and/or safety
schools.
Some schools only allow for Restrictive Early Action, in which applicants
may not apply for other colleges under their own early-binding and/or early action program.
Early Evaluation
Unlike the other early choices, Early Evaluation does not admit the applicant
but rather gives applicants an evaluation of how likely he or she is in getting
into that college.
However, this does NOT guarantee admission to that college during the
regular admissions season.
Different colleges use different types of applications. Make sure you research what type of application your desired college uses before applying.
Common Application
The
Common App
has over 900 participating colleges . Like other applications,
they are holistic and require different components. With its essays being flexible enough for reuse in school-specific applications, and many top universities embracing it, the Common App is a great, flexible option!
Coalition Application
With over 140 participating colleges, the
Coalition Application is unique compared to
the other types of college apps. For once, the Coalition Application serves as a
platform that allows students to build a portfolio of their works of all their 4 years
of high school.
That means essays can be substituted with a body of other works
and projects!
Universal Application
Although the
Universal Application
only has about 44 participating colleges, it’s still
worth taking a look at as it’s newer and has improved features from
the Common App. Some IVY league schools accept the Universal Application, so it’s
worth considering!
Shared Applications for a System of Colleges
Some schools use applications that can be used by all colleges in the same school system. For example, UC (University of California) schools use
UC Applications, while the State University of New York (SUNY) system of universities use the
SUNY Application. It is important to note that some school systems also include other forms of application such as the Common App, while others do not.