Early action is non–binding. This means you are not bound to attend if you are accepted. You may also apply early action to multiple colleges. Early action deadlines usually fall at the same time as early decision.

EA usually requires students to submit an application by mid-October or early November of their senior year of high school instead of January 1. You’ll hear back in December, maybe before you’ve even sent off your Regular Decision applications!

Under early action, you could get accepted or denied. There’s also a third option unique to early admissions: getting deferred. Getting deferred means that your app is pushed into the regular applicant pool to be evaluated again later.

Early Action Pros

Show You’re Serious

Applying early lets your favorite school (or schools) know that you are serious about attending. Schools track how many applicants accept their offers of admission and release those numbers to the public. A school looks good when a high percentage of accepted applicants chose to attend. So if they think you’re likely to accept their offer of admission, it may give your application a leg up.

The obvious advantage of early action over early decision is the opportunity it gives you to apply to, and ultimately compare financial aid packages from several schools. If you are accepted early decision, you risk missing the admission deadlines of other schools while you wait for your award package to arrive. If that award is lackluster, your options are fewer.

Cut Down on Admission Stress

If you are accepted to your dream school, you won’t have to bother with the time and expense of applying elsewhere. You can put your focus back on right now instead of one year from now.

Some students and high school counselors believe that applying early decision gives them better odds of acceptance, but the truth is early acceptance rates and admissions standards vary from school to school.

There is a (potential) disadvantage to applying early, however. You may not have the opportunity to compare financial aid packages offered by other schools.

If your school’s not restrictive, then you can apply early wherever you want. Besides the rare single choice EA program, early action doesn’t have any other restrictions. You’re not obligated to accept if you get offered a spot based on your EA application. Like with your RD schools, you have until the national response date of May 1 to make and submit your decision (and deposit).

Being able to wait until May 1 to choose your college allows you to gather all your acceptances and compare financial aid offers. As you’ll see below, this opportunity isn’t available if you apply early decision. Before delving into how ED differs from EA, let’s take a look at some popular schools with early action and their deadlines.

Early Action Cons

With more and more students applying early each year, early admissions is getting ever more competitive, and deferrals are becoming more common. A few schools have a restrictive or single choice early action program that prevents you from applying to more than one school under EA.