Is Early Decision Binding or Not?
Students will be sending in their Early Decision (ED) applications to meet the November 1 deadline with most colleges emailing their Early Decision notifications in mid-December. It’s one of the times of the year when the team at Great College Advice have our fingers and toes crossed very hard for our students who have applied ED. It seems like a strange time to be asking, “is early decision binding or not?”
The question has received a lot more attention recently following a New York Times article (paywall) discussing how Tulane punished a Colorado private high school after a student backed out of their ED agreement with Tulane. As we don’t have all the details of this particular situation, we will refrain from giving our opinion. But it’s important for families to understand how these ED agreements work.
Applying early decision (ED) is not a good idea for every college applicant. For some, sending out a single application could be financially foolish because it carries a binding agreement to attend that school no matter what. For others, if you’re applying ED to a college you’re not excited about just because you’ve been told that it improves your admission odds then that is not a good decision either.
But, we also sympathize with families. The college process can be unfair. Universities like Tulane take roughly 2/3 of its class in its Early Decision rounds. It’s virtually impossible to be accepted in Tulane’s regular decision round. And, yes, for many selective universities the acceptance rate is higher in ED. If you truly have a dream school and financial aid is not an issue, then ED makes sense. If not, then think carefully about whether early decision is right for you.
So Is Early Decision Binding or Not?
But let us clarify our position: we don’t advocate that students and their families renege on the binding ED agreement. The only justifiable grounds for getting out of this agreement is insufficient financial aid. If financial situations are such that parents simply cannot (or will not) be able to pay for college, the family (along with the student’s high school counselor) should communicate with the financial aid office and ask to be released from the agreement.
But it’s MUCH better to never get yourself into this sort of predicament in the first place. Again, if you go back and read our article explaining how ED works, you’ll understand that colleges have less incentive to offer the best financial aid packages to early applicants. Of course, colleges will say that they offer equivalent packages to ED and regular applicants. But, there is no way of proving or disproving their claim. Colleges do not divulge all their records and offers publicly. The logic of the situation (plus long talks with admissions officers off the record over beers) indicates that this is how colleges do business.
Therefore, if ever a family comes to us with any indication that financial aid awards will be central to the decision about where their kid goes to college we de-emphasize ED. This allows families to do some comparison shopping later in the spring. (It’s okay to apply Early Action, however, as these admissions programs carry no binding agreement).
When selecting a college, cost needs to be one of the most important factors for most families. But there are other considerations involved too. And it’s hard to make a general rule when each family’s financial circumstances are different.
Our point is that no student should ever renege on their ED agreement if they have done their homework. They will never get in a situation in which backing out of an ED agreement is necessary to maintain a family’s financial health.
What if I need to talk to someone to ask whether early decision is binding or not?
If you need professional guidance to explore your own circumstances and to discuss the binding nature of your early decision agreement, please reach out to Great College Advice. Every year we help families understand the nuances of the college admissions process so that they can maximize their priorities in the college decision. Please contact us here.
Since 2007, the expert team of college admissions consultants at Great College Advice has provided comprehensive guidance to thousands of students from across the United States and over 45 countries across the world. Great College Advice has offices in Colorado, New Jersey, Chicago, North Carolina and Massachusetts.
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