Early decision is a college admission plan in which students apply earlier in the year than usual and receive their results early as well. (It is completely different from “early admission,” which is when a high school student applies to college in 11th grade and starts college without graduating from high school.) This benefits students by reducing the number of applications to be completed at one time, and by providing results early. It benefits colleges as they generally know what their accepted student pool will look like before the regular admission process begins. Most colleges that participate in early admission request applications by October 15 or November 1 and return results by December 15. On September 12, 2006,

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

ended its early decision program, a move that had profound effects on college admissions nationwide. Harvard Dean of Admissions William R. Fitzsimmons explained the move was intended to decrease the privileging of wealthy applicants by the early decision process. In 2007, the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

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University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

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University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United State ...

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Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

joined Harvard when they announced that they were discontinuing their early decision programtin an effort to help foster economic diversity in their student bodies. In 2011, Harvard University, Princeton University and several others reinstated their early decision programs. Common early decision plans include: * Early action — a program that is not binding * Early decision — a program that is binding All colleges define “early admission” programs differently, which is considering applications from exceptionally qualified high school students who wish to enter college after the junior year. Students interested in early admission typically have outstanding high school records and have exhausted the educational opportunities available to them at their high schools.

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University and college admissions {{US-university-stub

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