Things You Should Know about Early Decision
By Max Wang ‘25
Photo from NMH Flickr
If you have seen students who are staying in different buildings, eyes focusing on computer screens, and doing extensive research and writing, be aware: they are most likely seniors/PGs who are worrying about their college applications. College applications are very important for all seniors and PGs. Even though the final deadline for most colleges will be on January 1st, applicants have a chance to get into colleges in advance. This chance is known as “Early Decision”.
Just like applying in regular applications, applicants need to complete an essay by November 1st. When it comes to writing essays, most students are concerned about the lack of time. They have to stay up late to complete their college essays as well as their homework assignments.
“I also have four 500 level courses, and it’s like…killing me.” said Yash Grover ‘24. “I'm constantly sleeping at 4am, waking up at 7am, and I’m really stressed.” Grover continued. Time management is definitely a concern among students. However, for faculties, time is also a great problem.
“I will label the process intense.” said Joe Latimer, the director of college counseling. “So many students at a school like ours apply early…that puts all the work between late August to November 1st, and it’s a lot of work for everyone involved, including teachers who have a deadline to write letters of recommendation.”
In order to alleviate problems like these, Latimer also gave applicants advice: to be punctual and be prepared in the summer break.
“The biggest problem that our students face is around time management. No matter how many times we asked students to work on their application…students don’t take the advice…At NMH, you are incredibly busy. When you don’t check off things over the summer, it’s very difficult to do on top of everything else that students are doing.” Latimer explained.
However, things are not always going as planned for students. Sometimes, students look over colleges in summer, only realizing that they don’t really like the college when they come back from break. “Over the summer, I finished a lot of decisions. But, once I got to school, I realized that I don’t even like the colleges I’m applying to.” Grover said. Even though students did extensive research during summer break, they will still change their minds during the application season.
Overall, college application is a very busy process for both students and faculties. All applicants need to hold themselves in readiness even after applying for early decision, because the official school application process has just begun.
