Applying to Colleges 101
You’ve started doing your research and visiting colleges. But you’re in that weird space now where you’re getting close to finalizing your college list and waiting to start applications. As you think to applying in early fall, here are some things you might want to become familiar with.
Deadline Plans
Different colleges and universities have different deadlines, just as they have different deadline plans. What do I mean by deadline plans?
Early Action (EA): As its name suggests, this plan comes with an early deadline and an early decision. USC’s EA deadline is November 1. EA is non-binding, so you don’t have to commit to that college if you’re admitted and you can apply EA to multiple schools. That is, unless you apply…
Restrictive Early Action (REA): This is like Early Action, except you can only apply early to one school (this includes Early Decision… which we’ll get to in a second).
Early Decision (ED): This is probably the most restrictive decision plan. First, you can only apply ED to one school. Second—and this is really important—it’s binding. That means, if you get in, you have to withdraw all other applications. USC is now offering ED for programs in the Marshall School of Business (except the World Bachelor of Business). The deadline is November 1. Just to confuse you more, some schools have two, one earlier and one later.
Regular Decision (RD): This is the “regular” decision to apply to that school, so to speak. The deadline can be as late as February. Even if you apply early, you can apply to as many RD schools as you’d like.
Application Platforms
When I was applying to college, most schools had their own applications. This meant that you had to fill out certain information, such as your name, address, phone number, guardian information, etc. over and over again.
For good reason, several schools today choose to have their own applications. Take, for example, MIT and Georgetown. The same is true of many public systems such as the University of California (UC) and University of Texas.
But most schools use a shared application. This means you only have to fill out most of the information once and can then send it to multiple schools. The most common (no pun intended), used by over 1,000 colleges and universities, is the Common Application or Common App. USC is a Common App school. There’s also the Coalition Application and Universal College Application, two Common App alternatives, or separate platforms for special programs such as Questbridge.
Know that, if a school uses a shared application platform, there will generally be some element specific to them. It’s usually a short answer or essay about why you want to go to that institution. Makes sense, right?
Some Common Terms
Deferral: Remember those decision plans above? If a student is not admitted as a part of an early action plan, they may be denied or they may be deferred. If they are deferred, they become a part of the Regular Decision pool.
Demonstrated Interest: Some schools track events you’ve been to, contact you’ve made with your admission counselor, whether you’ve visited campus—and factor these things into your admission decision. We don’t track demonstrated interest at USC. We assume that students who take the time and spend the money to apply are interested.
Legacy: A “legacy” student is one whose sibling, parent, grandparent or other direct descendant attended that school. Some colleges give preference to legacy applicants. As a California institution, USC does not factor a student’s legacy status into admission decisions.
Priority Deadline: Just as you would think, students who apply by the priority deadline are given extra consideration in the admission process. USC does not have a priority deadline.
Need Blind vs. Need Aware: Need-blind schools don’t factor a student’s ability to pay for their institution when making admission decisions. Need-aware institutions, which might have more limited resources, will factor how much a student can pay when deciding on a student’s admission. USC is very fortunate to be need blind.
Rolling Admission: This of this as “first come, first served”. A school with rolling admission will consider applications and render decisions as they come in, until they fill their class. USC does not have rolling admission.
Waiting List: Many colleges can only offer admission to so many students. Sometimes, they will have a “wait list” of students who are neither admitted nor denied. Essentially, if a spot becomes available, they may be admitted. Wait lists may be ranked or not. USC does not have a wait list. It does, however, offer spring admission to students.
Final Thoughts
These are just a few of the basics of Applying to College that I wanted to share. There’s much more I could have talked about, of course. Hopefully, you’ve got a good foundation and will be ready when the time comes to get started on applications!
Written by: Anne Aubert-Santelli, Associate Director, USC Office of Admission