What to Know About Restrictive Early Action

How can top students distinguish themselves from other top students when applying to some of the most selective colleges in the U.S.? One answer is by applying through restrictive early action, an option offered at a handful of elite institutions.

Schools that use restrictive early action ask prospective students to apply early only at that institution. Typically, such colleges require students to sign a form stating that they will not apply to other early admissions programs, with some exceptions. If students are accepted, they’re under no commitment to attend.

Restrictive Early Action vs. Early Action vs. Early Decision

Restrictive early action differs from early decision, a binding admissions option that requires a student to attend a college if accepted, and regular early action, a regular decision option with an earlier deadline. All three options are ways to express enthusiasm for a school.

“Basically, restrictive early action is a nonbinding, noncommittal way in which students can demonstrate that a specific school, particularly one of the most selective private schools in our country, is their No. 1 choice,” says Cindy Chanin, founder and director of the admissions firm Rainbow EDU Consulting & Tutoring.

[Read: What to Know About Early Action, Early Decision in College Admissions.]

Generally there is at least one exception to the rule on not applying early elsewhere when doing restrictive early action: public universities. That’s because public universities may take longer to make a decision, says Allen Koh, CEO of admissions firm Cardinal Education. “And because public universities are so much more affordable,” he says. “Universities think it would be unethical not to let students apply to the public universities.”

Another common exception is for students who are applying to foreign universities, experts note.

Schools That Have Restrictive Early Action

Families may also know restrictive early action by another name: single-choice early action.

Only a few highly selective universities have a restrictive early action or single-choice early action option. Those include:

Princeton University in New Jersey

Harvard University in Massachusetts

Yale University in Connecticut

Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

California Institute of Technology

University of Notre Dame in Indiana

Stanford University in California

The Ivy League schools not named above feature a binding early decision option. A student who applies through restrictive early action is prohibited from applying through early decision to another school.

Timelines for Restrictive Early Action

As with early admissions plans in general, restrictive early action isn’t for everyone. It tends to require students to submit application materials well before others applying for regular decision.

About 450 colleges in the U.S. offer an early deadline in their admissions program. Generally, the deadline for these early acceptance programs is Nov. 1 and students find out if they are accepted sometime in December, according to the College Board.

In the case of Caltech, students have a Nov. 1 deadline and hear back mid-December. Then they have until May to make a decision, according to Ashley Pallie, Caltech’s executive director of undergraduate admissions and chief admissions officer.

Caltech shifted away from early action to restrictive early action in the summer of 2022 in “an effort to be responsive to students who are deeply enthusiastic about Caltech and want to identify the Institute as their first choice,” Pallie wrote in an email.

Who Should Apply Restrictive Early Action

“If you know what your top choice is then you might as well apply early there, because quite frankly it’s going to increase odds (of acceptance and) it’s your best chance of getting in,” says Dan Lee, a founder of Solomon Admissions Consulting.

Colleges receive far fewer early applications than regular applications. For that reason, college admissions staff are able to more closely read a prospective student’s early application, Lee explains.

[READ: How to Make a College List.]

Prospective students should also have strong essays and letters of recommendation, interesting extracurricular activities and personal narratives that reveal the content of that applicant’s character. Such applicants tend to be academic all-stars highly coveted by colleges.

Generally, applying early to any school, regardless of the specific type of early admissions, gives prospective students a greater chance of acceptance.

Lee says the strongest candidates usually apply restrictive early action for the most selective schools.

Princeton, for instance, has a regular acceptance rate of about 4.2% and a restrictive early action acceptance rate of 15.5%, per U.S. News data. While its restrictive early action acceptance rate is much higher, the pool of candidates who apply early is very strong. Applying regular decision would offer applicants a weaker pool of candidates to compete against.

Trade-Offs of Applying Via Restrictive Early Action

Restrictive early action can be a double-edged sword. The greatest benefit is the outright enthusiasm students display by applying to one specific school. However, that is also the greatest drawback, as students can’t apply to other schools early if they are considering multiple elite colleges.

Restrictive early action benefits the school by helping increase its yield, which refers to the number of accepted students who decide to enroll, while giving prospective students a nonbinding way to show schools their No. 1 choice. Schools aim to achieve the highest yield possible, according to Rachel Rubin, the cofounder of Spark Admissions.

Rubin also mentioned the financial difference between restrictive early action and early action. Restrictive early action signals a student is very keen on a particular school, while giving students the freedom to choose other schools based on their financial needs. Early decision, on the other hand, locks a student in for whatever financial aid the school offers.

[READ: 7 Strategies for Appealing a College Financial Aid Package.]

“If a student is accepted to their ED school, it is often challenging to break their ED contract if they do not receive the requisite financial aid. For this reason, many lower-income students are afraid or unable to apply ED, resulting in ED disproportionately benefiting students who do not need to apply for financial aid,” Rubin wrote in an email.

These financial conditions should be assessed when a student considers early admission options for college.

Chanin encourages students to be strategic about restrictive early action. If they don’t get into a restrictive early action program, they’ll have to wait until the regular decision round when admission rates are lower.

“They’re basically hedging their bets on something that’s very unlikely for most students unless they’re in the top tier of the applicant pool,” Chanin says.

Koh encourages students to think about “game theory” when applying to colleges. Which admissions route gives them the best chance to get in?

Chanin frames that decision in slightly different terms, encouraging students to think about their return on investment in admissions. Is the student’s application strong enough to stand out in a small but mighty applicant pool at his or her dream school, or would it be better to submit early applications at multiple schools? That’s the kind of question students should ponder when applying, she says.

“Restrictive early action gives you the opportunity to say that you are truly interested in attending this very selective institution,” Chanin says. “And there will be a slightly higher admissions rate to apply restrictive early action than there would be during the regular application deadlines. But you have to keep in mind that you are pitted up against the strongest candidates, even though it’s a smaller applicant pool.”

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What to Know About Restrictive Early Action originally appeared on usnews.com

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