As a high school student, the college admission process can be overwhelming and filled with numerous decisions to make. One of these decisions is whether or not to apply for Early Decision (ED). On one hand, early decision can provide students with an early acceptance, a sense of relief, and open up the remainder to truly live and experience their final year of high school. On the other hand, it should be considered with real diligence and comes with some risks and limitations.

Before making a decision, it is crucial for students to understand what Early Decision entails. Early decision is a binding agreement that requires students to attend the college if they are accepted. This means that students must withdraw all other college applications (immediately!). This is distinct from Early Action. Some colleges (including Princeton, Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Notre Dame and Georgetown) also have Restricted Early Action. Policies vary by the university, so it is important to check.

Backing out of or withdrawing an Early Decision (ED) agreement can and usually will negatively impact a student's chances of admission to that college or university. We have seen more and more students both wanting to take advantage of the possible ‘bump’ in early decision acceptance odds, but also waffling. To be clear, you should only apply ED or ED2 if you would be absolutely happy to attend above all other schools you’re applying to. Especially for ED2, families understandably feel pressure to increase the odds of acceptance where there is a precipitous drop in the acceptance rate between ED and RD. You may want to ‘get out’ of an ED2 application for various reasons, such as receiving a favorable Early Action (EA) response in late January, considering financial options, or changing family circumstances. While withdrawing the ED application may allow the student to compare