What You Need to Know About Rolling Admissions COVID-19 Series
The Princeton Review
When you think about the college application process, there are a few dates that might
make your heart beat just a little bit faster.
For starters, the early action and early decision due dates come around November 1 or November
15.
While early action admission offers are nonbinding (meaning you don’t have to attend if accepted)
and early decision offers of admission are binding, both happen around the same time—very
early in your senior year.
And then there are regular admission deadlines—which tend to be around January 1 or January 15.
With all of those standard admission deadlines, everyone applies around the same time, and
then everyone receives admission decisions around the same time.
You may feel like, if you miss those deadlines, then you’ll miss your chance to apply to
college.
Not so, my friends.
That is where rolling admissions come in.
With rolling admissions, there is a window for admissions, sometimes six months or longer.
You apply within that window, and you find out your admission decision about 4 to 8 weeks
later—sometimes even sooner.
With rolling admissions, everyone does not do the same thing at the same time—you apply,
and find out whether you’ve been admitted, on a rolling basis.
Schools with rolling admissions may start accepting applications before the earliest
early-application deadline (August 1st is a common opening date), and extend beyond
the latest regular application deadline, typically until all slots are filled.
Wondering how many schools offer rolling admissions?
The number is higher than you might think.
It’s 611.
That’s right, folks.
A whopping 611 schools have no application closing date.
Many of those still have “Priority Dates,” and those range significantly.
Penn State’s is November 30th, while Portland State’s is June 1st.
Of those 611 schools, 85 are ranked among our Best Colleges, which collectively represent
the top 13% of schools in the nation.
Those include Penn State and Portland State, and a bunch of others as well.
And some schools offer both rolling admissions and standard admissions—meaning you’ve
got options!
Here are some of the advantages of rolling admissions.
For starters, you can get a decision early and know that you have a viable college option
before you’ve even submitted some of your other applications.
If you’re worried you might not be as, well, appealing as some other applicants, rolling
admissions can also offer you an advantage if you apply at the beginning of the window.
Because rolling admissions are first-come, first-served, over time there are going to
be fewer slots for admitted students as the class fills up, and your odds of being accepted
get lower and lower.
Picture this as if it’s a giant dinner table — or concert venue.
As more seats are taken, it gets tougher and tougher to snag one.
So students who apply earlier in the rolling-admissions cycle may be more likely to get in.
You can use this to your advantage.
Speaking of applying early—unlike early decision, early rolling admissions are not
binding.
And if you struggle with waiting patiently for an answer to the all-important question
of "Where am I going to college?"—I mean, who doesn’t?—rolling admissions offer
you the advantage of a quick answer.
Plus, if you are late to the game, or your regular admissions decisions didn’t go the
way you’d hoped, rolling admissions also give you the chance to apply—and get accepted—well
after the last regular deadline has passed, and in some cases well into the summer.
With those considerable advantages, there are disadvantages to consider, too.
There aren’t as many of them, but they can be weighty.
For starters, if you wait too late to apply, you may find that competition for the few
remaining slots is more intense later in the process.
Applying late in the year may also cost you in other ways, too.
Just because admissions are rolling does not mean that all of a school’s deadlines are
rolling.
For instance, you may not be able to get housing and aid from a school that allocates those
resources on a first-come, first-served basis.
And speaking of aid, keep in mind that while a school’s admission policy may be rolling,
the FAFSA definitely isn’t.
FAFSA stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
And you should plan to apply for aid!
Lots of people don’t apply because they think they don’t qualify—and they would’ve!
Don’t leave money on the table, folks.
But back to the topic at hand: Both the FAFSA and the much more intense College Board CSS
Financial Aid/PROFILE applications begin on October 1st.
Some schools also have their own financial aid applications.
The point I want you to take away is that, regardless of when the rolling admissions
window closes, you need to know all of your schools’ financial aid application deadlines.
These differ, not just from one college to another, but even within individual schools,
which may have different deadlines for FAFSA and PROFILE form submission.
Make a spreadsheet, write it down, do whatever you need to do because you do not want to
be late.
It’s worth repeating—you never want to leave money on the table.
If you want to find out more about how to maximize your aid and minimize your college
costs, watch our “College Admission 101” videos.
Thanks so much for watching, my friends.
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