http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/28/tip-sheet-ed/
1. Only apply early decision to a school that is your first choice.
Seems sort of obvious, but often it is not. Remove all strategy from your thoughts. Think about the research you have done, the visits you have made, the Web sites you have browsed. If you find yourself comparing every school on your wish list to that one school you love, you have found a first choice. Don’t forget, this is binding; you are obligated to attend if admitted. This is not an option for the perpetually wishy-washy.
2. Make sure that your choice is realistic.
Early decision is not a silver bullet. I always tell students that if admissibility were rungs on a ladder, early decision has the potential to bump you up one rung. It does not take a student from the first floor and propel her to the penthouse by simply checking off a radio button on the common application. Columbia University may be my first choice but if I don’t have a constellation of A’s on my transcript in some pretty demanding classes, it is also an unrealistic one. Talk to your teachers and counselors. Be certain you understand the profile of students from your high school who have had success at that school. Understand your viability and play to your strengths. Don’t assume because you were unlikely to be admitted without the early decision choice then you will likely be admitted with it.
3. Have a conversation about financial aid and scholarship with your parents and with your colleges.
Many students actually back away from applying early decision because they are worried they won’t receive enough financial assistance. Others strategize that “going” early will give them an advantage when funds are being distributed. Both ways of thinking are erroneous. Play around with the government’s financial aid calculators (www.fafsa.ed.gov). Also, many colleges have great Web sites that provide financial aid estimator programs as well (Roanoke College and Princeton, for example).
Learn about how your family’s income and your achievements shape your needs when schools calculate aid or even scholarships. Ask your college of choice what the typical profile is of a family receiving institutional assistance or government subsidized loans. The neediest families are often accommodated with ample financial assistance, regardless of when they apply. It is usually upper middle-class families that feel the squeeze, and if you don’t qualify for financial aid early, you won’t later (unless there is a dramatic change in your household circumstances). If cost is an issue and you fall in this group of “middle earners,” you must look at schools that award merit scholarships and have a lower cost of attendance. Consider, also, those schools where you will be one of the stronger candidates in the pool of applicants.
4. Don’t make this decision because you hate waiting or or don’t want to hear your Aunt Janice ask you about college one more time.
Deciding in November of your senior year where you want to be for the next four years – four years that will change you forever – is not a decision to made through avoidance. College will change you forever not because it is the proverbial “best time of your life” but because it is a period of emotional and intellectual growth unmatched by most other periods in your development. Think about yourself and your choices as long as you can. You don’t get this kind of time for many other life choices. What seems like agony now is only a lifelong exercise that you will get better and better at. Waiting produces anticipation that, in some ways, always seems more joyous in April than it ever does in December.
5. Don’t make this move if you are someone who lives with a lot of regrets.
The college decision is agonizing and requires thought. If you find yourself always second- guessing big decisions then applying early is not your biggest concern. Getting in after applying early is. There is nothing sadder than the student who has only one choice, but who probably needed several as a means to grow and feel secure. It is not your only choice, even if it is your first choice, until you apply early decision and get in.
Now that you have gone through 1-5 above, ask yourself “Am I certain I will feel the way I feel now when everyone else in my school is hearing from a variety of schools in March or April?”
