The Highs and Woes of Early Decision

I really would have preferred to call this post Early Decision: The X Effect.  The thing is that no one source gives you a straight answer about Early Decision.  You are advised to apply early, and yet are confronted with tons of “if”’s and “but”’s…  So should you really apply Early Decision?  Does it even help?  Is it worth it?  I applied Early Decision to my “dream school” and Early Action to all the others that I considered.  It’s funny now that a few months later I got out of my binding Early Decision agreement and am registered to attend a “second choice” school.

It isn’t like that for everyone.  My older sister for example applied Early Decision to New York University and was accepted.  She is currently an undergrad there, but sacrificed a lot to be there.  Not only did she close her doors to other opportunities by signing a binding document before knowing the results, but she lost the potential to receive scholarships and aid from other schools.

I was accepted to my Early Decision school as well.  Mount Holyoke College welcomed me into next year’s incoming class…  So why didn’t it work for me like it did for my sister?  I had already applied to other schools and had several offers on the table.  All of my second choice schools were eager for me to attend and showed it to me through generous aid offers.  As a student who require financial aid to be able to make her college dreams a reality, this became highly appealing over Mount Holyoke’s refusal of aid.

I ran into a situation where I was crunched for time with admitting all the necessary documents to the school.  My family was affected by Hurricane Ike and we unfortunately did not have our tax information ready when the school demanded it.  They were insensitive to my needs as a student, and made it extremely difficult to find answers to my questions.  Ultimately, the aid was offered at the last minute, but it wasn’t very generous – minimal in fact; and through this process I saw how difficult and frustrating it was to work with the administration.  I’ve talked about myself being a “gray” person in the past, who doesn’t fit into “black and white” molds, and the school that I believed to be the place of my dreams, was proving to be very colorless.  Afraid that this administration represented the environment of the College, I declined my offer on the grounds of not being able to afford it.

Basically my point is that even if you applied Early Decision and were accepted, you do NOT have to attend.  The whole binding document is filled with loop holes that makes it perfectly legal for you to decline the offer if you decide it’s not substantial.

If I could do it all again, I would still apply Early Decision and encourage you to do also if you have a “dream school.”  I certainly believe it increased my chances of acceptance.  Although applying early didn’t prove to be worth it in my case, I’m glad I was able to get my feedback early, to move on with my decision, and my life.

So remember, just as Early Decision seems very unclear and vague – it IS.  It is binding and yet not binding.  And although it can be a blessing for some, it can also turn sour for others.