Is Early Admissions Evolving? UChicago’s Early Early Decision and Others

This past summer, The University of Chicago announced their binding Summer Student Early Notification (SSEN) application option: high school seniors students who have previously completed one of UChicago’s summer programs can now apply to the university between September and mid-October—earlier than the ED1 timeline. This development adds to UChicago’s wide range of early application options; the institution already offers ED1, EA, and ED2.

What does this mean?

A number of things: for one, this will likely make it even more difficult for students to be admitted through Regular Decision (and easier for students to be admitted through SSEN). In other words, SSEN will likely build upon UChicago’s preexisting heavy tendency to draw most of its freshman pool from Early Decision applicants.

For another, although students can only apply ED1 to one school, because UChicago’s SSEN is a separate option from ED1, students can apply through SSEN and, if rejected, still apply to other schools through their early options. As students can only apply to one school per ED round, opening this SSEN option that precludes any ED deadline allows UChicago to accept many more qualified applicants who love UChicago but, whether due to discouragingly low admit rate or simply a tough choice between favorite schools, may have otherwise considered applying ED to other schools.

Why does UChicago want more students to apply through a binding “early” application plan? The broader answer is that Early Decision has always been highly beneficial to colleges, and so it stands to reason that colleges would want to add more functionally Early Decision application options. Because Early Decision 1 and 2 are binding application plans, ED applicants have made the decision that the college to which they are applying is their top choice school (or at least, one of their top choices). By accepting more ED applicants, colleges are able to fill their incoming class with more students who are highly enthusiastic about attending.

SSEN also, in theory, allows UChicago to circumvent competing with other prestigious schools for the highly qualified students it wants to admit, thus increasing UChicago’s yield rate, or the proportion of admitted students that actually decide to matriculate at a given college. Selective universities are fully aware that many of the qualified applicants they would like to admit will also likely receive offer letters from other schools, and so often pull largely from the ED1 and ED2 applicant pool—because these application plans are binding, ED applicants are guaranteed to accept an offer letter. 

UChicago may have also had budgetary motivation for launching the SSEN plan. First, by applying to any binding application plan, students may not have full clarity on the financial aid package and may need to be comfortable with paying the full tuition, or at least the majority of the sticker price for that particular college. Students can technically back out of Early Decision if it is not financially feasible for them, and some ED students do get an amount of financial aid, but it is largely assumed that, for the most part, ED students will be paying at least a large portion of full tuition. This is, in part, why a student’s financial situation is an incredibly important factor to consider when deciding whether or not to apply ED.

Second, many of UChicago’s summer programs come with a significant price tag: its Summer Immersion Programs for Pre-College Students cost $8,600, and its Research in the Biological Sciences (RIBS) program has a price of $14,000. The existence of SSEN will no doubt increase the demand for spots at UChicago’s summer programs, and increase the program revenue the school gets in turn.

The list of implications goes on, but the announcement of SSEN also raises the question: is this the future of early college admissions, beyond UChicago? The likelihood of more colleges following suit with their own additional earlier early options is not guaranteed, but certainly high.

In fact, while SSEN is new in the college admissions sphere, many colleges have already introduced new variants and twists to early admissions.

Carnegie Mellon University: Switching from Regular Decision to Early Decision

Carnegie Mellon University allows students who initially apply through Regular Decision to change their minds before November 1st and switch their applications to the Early Decision 1 plan, provided they email the Office of Admissions by November 1st and submit an ED Agreement. Notably, CMU also offers Early Decision 2, and students are able to switch their applications to that plan as well, through January 3rd.

As explained earlier, selective colleges want more ED students who, through the binding ED application, are guaranteed to matriculate to the school if accepted. Therefore, CMU, like many other schools, wants the number of applicants in their ED pool to be as large as possible. Allowing students who apply through the Regular Decision plan to change their mind and change their application to ED even after submission increases that ED applicant number.

More fluidity in application plans is beneficial on the student side, too: students may learn something crucial about a college that causes them to wish they applied ED, for example, or their financial situation may have changed after submitting their Regular Decision application that allows them to switch to ED with greater financial security.

The University of Washington: Applying to college in 10th grade (or even in 8th grade)

The University of Washington has two paths for especially early admission: one for high school sophomores, and the other for 8th graders! 

UW Academy is exclusively for 10th grade applicants in Washington state. Successful applicants leave high school at the end of their sophomore year to matriculate as University freshmen, instead of finishing their junior and senior years in high school. Only up to forty students are admitted through the UW Academy program each year, and with this level of selectivity, the cohort is composed of the most highly qualified and academically advanced students among their peers.

The Transition School is a one-year college prep program for an even younger demographic: 8th grade students apply, and admitted students are enrolled in the Transition School for the duration of the following year, instead of progressing to 9th grade. True to its name, the Transition School thoroughly prepares its students for an early transition to college, ensuring that students develop the necessary academic prowess and personal skills they need to succeed in higher education. Students are surrounded by similarly ambitious peers and a supportive community. Transition School “graduates” then matriculate at the University of Washington the following year as college freshmen.

These two programs that make up UW’s Early Entrance Program are not the only ones providing middle school and high school students with especially early college admission opportunities. CMU also offers an early admission program for exceptionally gifted juniors, as do Bard College at Simon’s Rock, Allegheny College, and Montclair State University, just to name a few.

While most of these programs are extremely selective with small cohorts, the possibility for academically exceptional students to follow an expedited academic journey to and through college is a unique opportunity that can open doors to those who successfully gain admission. The growing prevalence of these programs may lead to more young students matriculating at colleges across the nation.

If you would like to further discuss high school coaching and college admissions, as well as how your student can better prepare for the changing early college admissions landscape, please feel free to book a free consultation with us!