EARLY ACTION

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1) EARLY ACTION means that you'll both apply earlier than the regular deadline and find out earlier whether or not you got accepted. Only do this if you have a strong application to send.

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2) The most common deadlines for early action are November 1 and November 15.

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3) The most common notification date is in mid-December, so you should find out whether you were accepted, denied, or deferred before you go on winter break.

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4) Unlike early decision, early action is not binding. You should have until the national response deadline of May 1 to tell your school whether you'll be attending or not.

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5) That means that you can still compare admissions and financial aid offers from other colleges—even if you applied to them regular decision—before accepting an offer and sending in your deposit.

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6) There is one circumstance for which early action has a restriction, though. Some schools, including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Stanford, offer only a restrictive or single-choice early action plan. Restrictive early action plans do not obligate you to accept an offer of admission, but they do mean that you can't apply to any other schools early action.