The College Admissions Early Decision Results Arrived, and You Were NOT Accepted!

What is the Plan for Regular Decision?

Colleges have been reporting their Early Decision (“ED”) and Early Action (“EA”) results. Congratulations to the students who were accepted!

Condolences to the students who were flat out rejected. A high five to the students who were deferred to regular decision.

And, to those students who chose not to apply early, you are the losers. Why do you ask? The odds for acceptance increase exponentially for students who apply early. Period, end of discussion. And believe me… it is no cake walk to get accepted early. However, it is next to impossible to get accepted regular decision to a top college.

COLLEGE ADMISSIONS OFFICES WERE BLINDSIDED BY COVID-19

It is fair to say that most college admissions offices throughout the U.S. did not know the true impact COVID would have on admissions for this application cycle 2020–2021. The collective guess among the Deans of admissions was that applicants would hold off on applying early, due to the unprecedented disruption the pandemic caused in our daily lives. The expectation was that early admission applications would be down for this year.

Admissions offices were wrong. Funny, the shoe was on the other foot for a change. Typically, it is the student who is guessing each year as to who Admissions is accepting.

Cheers to all the high school seniors who took a chance and applied early. At some top colleges, odds for early acceptance are 1 in 4, which are much better than 1 in 9 for regular decision. #NOBRAINER!

EARLY ADMISSION CANDIDATES WERE QUALIFIED THIS CYCLE

The top colleges that have reported their early decision figures revealed that most applicants were qualified and compelling this application cycle. Indeed, these students met the rigorous admissions requirements. How do I know? More students were accepted or deferred, as opposed to rejected.

REGULAR DECISION FOR THE CLASS OF 2025 WILL BE HIGHLY COMPETITIVE

You can be certain that regular decision admissions for the class of 2025 will be more competitive this year, than in any previous year. Go figure, thank you COVID.

COVID vaccines will be rolling out for the general public at the beginning of 2021, and high school students are looking towards their collective futures. They want to get the hell out of the house, live with kids their own age, and reclaim a life that was brought to a sudden stop.

Who is competing for class of 2025 freshman seats? First of all, you have class of 2024 students who took a gap year. Each top college has a few more class 2024 students who opted for a gap year due to COVID. These gap year students will be sitting with the freshman class 2025. Yes, gap year students take seats away from the next incoming freshman class.

REGULAR DECISION STUDENTS MUST BE QUALIFIED, ENGAGED AND COMPELLING CANDIDATES!

How does a brilliant high school senior shine above similarly situated brilliant applicants? Repeat after me, the legitimate participation in #EXTRAORDINARY Extracurricular Activities (“EA”) that evidence this student as #ENGAGED and therefore a #COMPELLING Applicant.

Stay tuned for how regular decision applicants can propel their college application to the top of the heap…

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