Have you heard about early decision and early action for college applicants eager to show commitment to a school? If you’re applying to highly selective schools, another one to add to your lexicon is “restrictive early action.” What is it, and how does it differ from other options? We provide a detailed explanation of REA, highlight which colleges utilize it, and weigh the pros and cons compared to traditional early decision.
Defining Restrictive Early Action
Before delving into REA, let's review Early Decision and Early Action. Early decision is a binding admissions process where students apply to college before the regular deadline, usually in November of their senior year. Admissions notifications are sent out in December, and if accepted, the student must commit. Early action, on the other hand, is nonbinding and allows students to apply to college before the regular deadline, with notifications sent out in December. However, if accepted, they are not required to commit.
Restrictive early action is a middle ground between early action and early decision. Students may only apply to their first-choice early action institution, with some exceptions. They cannot apply to any early decision schools, but can apply to other early action schools. Some colleges call this "single-choice early action," and it is a nonbinding process for students to apply to their top choice. Students are not permitted to apply to other schools, whether early action or early decision.
Colleges That Use Restrictive Early Action and Their Policies
A few colleges have adopted restrictive early action or single-choice early action. Here are some of the schools and their policies:
Georgetown’s early action applicants may not apply to any binding early decision programs but may apply to other early action or regular decision programs.
Harvard welcomes applicants to apply for restrictive early action by November 1, with decisions being sent out in mid-December. Restrictive early action is nonbinding, meaning if admitted, students are not obligated to attend and have until May 1 to respond to the offer. If applying to Harvard under restrictive early action, students may not apply to any other private institution under an early decision, early action, or restrictive early action plan, or to a binding early program at a public university. However, they may apply to:
Any public university, military academy, or university outside of the U.S. under a nonbinding program
Other universities under regular decision or early decision II programs
If deferred in the early action round, they may apply to a binding early decision program at another college (early decision II)
Apply for scholarships or special academic programs with an early deadline at another institution, public or private, if necessary for consideration and outcome is non-binding.
Harvard will meet the full financial need of admitted students regardless of the application process used.
Princeton's single-choice early action is a nonbinding process. As Princeton says “Princeton University’s single-choice early action program is a nonbinding process. If admitted, you have until May 1 to notify us about your decision to matriculate. If you apply single-choice early action on Nov. 1, you may not apply to an early program at any other private college or university within the United States."“
However, they may apply to:
Any public institution or service academy with a nonbinding decision
Any international institution with a nonbinding decision
Any college or university with a nonbinding rolling admission process.
Stanford offers non-binding restrictive early action for students who:
Identify Stanford as their first choice
Have taken a challenging academic schedule and performed well
Have enough time to write a thoughtful application by Nov 1 deadline
The policy requires students applying for restrictive early action to not apply to any private college/university with early action, early decision, or early notification. Also, cannot apply to public universities under an early binding plan. May apply to other colleges under regular decision. If deferred, may apply to another college’s early decision II plan.
Notre Dame's restrictive early action is non-binding. Students may apply to other early action programs at private or public colleges, but not to binding early decision programs. Students do not indicate a first-choice preference and may wait until May 1 to decide to attend. Rarely, students may move their regular decision application to restrictive early action by Nov 15 request.
Yale’s single-choice early action is unique among early admission programs, as applicants may not apply to any other school's early action or early decision program, with some exceptions. Exceptions include:
Non-binding rolling admission programs at any college
Any public institution with non-binding admission
Another college's early decision II program (notification must be after Jan 1)
Another college's early action II program
Any institution outside the US
Pros and Cons of Restrictive Early Action vs. Early Decision
Early action and early decision admission numbers help colleges estimate the yield of incoming classes. Early applicants are more likely to be accepted (overall, but your specific case greatly informs if these restrictive and binding admissions options will or will not increase your chance of acceptance) since they are likely or formally bound to commit. Restrictive early action applicants are not committed to attend, making it difficult for the admissions office to predict attendance.
Applying to college with either restrictive early action or early decision increases the chances of acceptance and eliminates the need for regular decision applications if admitted. However, applicants must be prepared and have everything ready 2 months earlier. If waiting for stronger grades or achievements, hold off on early decision or restrictive early action.