Next Step After College Early Action and Early Decision Results

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Congratulations! The college of your choice has accepted you as an Early Decision (ED) or Early Action (EA) student. ED is a binding agreement, unlike EA, which gives you the option to change schools. Your admissions journey can be stressful as you do not know whether you’ll be accepted, differed, or rejected.

Early Decision: The early decision process can help you understand how the next steps will work, both emotionally and logistically, while you wait. It’s all here, from acceptance to deferral to denial.

a) Acceptance: Congratulations on being accepted to the school of your choice. Next Step after acceptance will be:

  • All other applications must be withdrawn: If you had previously filed regular decision applications, you will need to withdraw them since the decision is binding. Your actions could potentially open up a position for another deserving applicant – and you would almost certainly want someone to do the same for you.
  • Financial aid should be discussed: It is normal for early decision acceptance to come with unfavourable news, such as not enough financial aid. You can negotiate a better financial aid package if that’s the case. An early decision agreement might be released if you are unable to secure a better financial aid award and the cost is still too high.
  • Your grades should be maintained: You should keep working on your grades and ensure your GPA does not decrease because schools are definitely looking at your final exam grades

b) Differed: If you get deferred by your top-choice school, that means you are on wait list. It means you may be accepted or rejected 50% of the time. As a student you must decide whether to continue with your college application or stop and then look for another option such as revisiting college. The following will be the next step:

    • There may be a deferral because the college need more information from you. Gather the requested materials and forward them as soon as possible if you receive word to that effect.
    • It is recommended that you send a letter to the admissions office that reiterates your interest and commitment in attending the school.
    • In addition to supplemental materials, you can include a letter of recommendation, updated test scores (if yours have improved), or other academic or extracurricular accomplishments since you submitted your initial application.
    • Finally, schedule a campus visit, which may serve as a further indicator of your intent to enrol if you are admitted.
    • You should keep working on your grades and ensure your GPA does not decrease because schools are definitely looking at your final exam grades.

c) Rejected: It’s very difficult to hear “no” after spending so much time and energy on a school you’re passionate about. The following will be the next step:

  • If you got rejected that means you are free to apply any other college.
  • You can visit another set of colleges. Make sure you apply there and research more about the program you want.
  • You should keep working on your grades and ensure your GPA does not decrease because schools are definitely looking at your final exam grades.
  • Be sure to meet all of your college’s regular deadlines, i.e., finish your work on time and submit it on time.
  • It has nothing to do with your application or your profile or your potential. You may need to consider other colleges that are more suitable for you.

Early Action: Students who apply early action actually have a number of options. Early action decisions are not binding, so students have the option of accepting the offer or applying to other colleges through their regular or rolling admission programs if accepted.

If you would like to attend, the following things will be you next step:

  • Accept the admission offer!
  • You should withdraw all other applications.
  • Focus on your senior year.

In the case that you are not ready to accept, you will need to do the following:

  • If you haven’t made your decision yet, hold off on telling the college.
  • Make sure you continue to work on your regular decision applications.
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