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Tuesday, Nov. 03, 2009

Seniors take advantage of applying early to college

The words “last name, first name, middle initial” begin the college application process.

For many seniors, the upcoming months are a time for applying to colleges. Even though many applications are due toward the end of December and early January, some teens submit their applications by early October or November under early decision or early action programs.

The programs often allow students to find out if they are accepted to a college earlier than if they had applied during the regular time frame. For most colleges, early decision programs bind students to attending that college if admitted, while early action plans do not.

This fall, Alysa Moore is applying to the University of Georgia under the university’s early action program.

“For UGA, there’s less paperwork to fill out,” said the Houston County High School senior.

Such incentives entice seniors to submit their applications early. Moore said the early action program gives her more time and less stress for applying to the UGA honors program.

Moore’s classmate, Hannah Jones, also is applying to UGA as part of the early action program.

“I’m doing early action, so I have more time to plan out things like roommates and financial aid,” Jones said.

Most students who applied to UGA last year did so through the early action program. About 11,600 of the 18,000 applications the university received were students applying for early action, said Nancy McDuff, UGA’s associate vice president for admissions and enrollment management.

Egan Guillet said early action programs are a “good idea because they are non-binding,” unlike early decision programs.

However, the Warner Robins High School senior does not expect to apply to any colleges using early action.

“I’m not doing it ... because I’m really busy,” he said.

Meredith Nelson, however, takes advantage of the early action programs.

“I’m applying early action to Auburn, Georgia Tech and College of Charleston because I want to be sure I have a larger chance of getting into the college of my choice,” the Stratford senior said.

Lucy Ma is a senior at Houston County High School. Shreeya Khurana, a senior at Stratford Academy, contributed to this report.