Are you confused about which deadlines to apply at US universities for different levels of study like a bachelor, a master or an MBA program? When should you apply to get the best chance of receiving admits and scholarships?
If these questions are bothering you, then fret not and read this article to help you plan the submission of your applications efficiently and in a timely manner. Let us first understand the different kinds of deadlines offered at US universities which will help you plan accordingly.
Early Decision (ED): This deadline is the earliest of all deadlines and has a binding commitment to attend the college, if accepted. The applications need to be submitted by mid-November and expect a decision to be received by the end of December. You can only apply to 1 ED and not multiple ones at different universities. There might also be a restriction at some universities on applying at other early action or regular deadlines till the decision is received for the ED application at the chosen university. If you receive an admit from the ED application, then you need to accept to study at this university but if you want to apply at other universities and attend any of those, then the ED application will have to be withdrawn.
Early Action (EA): Anyone can apply to more than 1 university for Early Action deadlines and it does not entail a binding element to it. So one can typically aim to submit an EA from mid-November to mid-December. This deadline is the best deadline to submit applications to have a better scope of receiving admits.
Regular Decisions (RD): By the term itself, we can understand that this deadline is available at universities on a regular basis. These deadlines are typically in the months of January to February with 1 deadline in each month but many universities also extend these RDs to the months of March and April.
Rolling Deadlines: These deadlines do not have set application deadlines like the ones mentioned above but continue to accept applications and roll out decisions in 3-4 weeks of submission and stop taking applications once the seats have filled up. For such universities with only rolling deadlines, it would be wise to apply as soon as possible.
Round 1,2 & 3 deadlines: These Rounds of application deadlines generally refer to B-School programs specifically, the MBA along with other management programs. Round 1 applications begin as soon as September/October; Round 2 in January and Round 3 in March/April. There might be a few B-Schools who offer a 4th Round of applications as well which can be checked on their respective websites.
Now we can discuss how to plan your application submission from your shortlisted universities since we have understood the kinds of US deadlines present at universities. If we talk about those of you who are currently in school and are planning your undergraduate education (bachelors) in the US, you will first need to check the deadlines of your respective universities that you have shortlisted and finalised. Once this is done, you'll have to confirm if there is any university where you want to apply in the Early Decision but do read carefully on the respective university's website if you can simultaneously apply at other universities for their EA or RD. If you don't have any university for an ED, then check which universities have just 1 single EA and apply there first and then go on to the rest of the EA deadlines along with other universities that offer RDs as well. This way you'll be able to apply for all the universities in your list latest by the first regular deadline though your aim should be to apply at all those universities that offer Early Action deadlines for their programs.
For all those students who want to apply for their respective master degrees in the US, you'll also need to get all the information about the deadlines of your shortlisted universities. The major deadlines available for master degree programs are the early action or priority deadlines, regular and rolling deadlines. There are a handful of universities that may have an option for an ED, so check this carefully. It is advised that the applications be submitted by the EA or priority deadlines which are till mid-December. You should also know that there are many universities who only offer 1 single deadline for many popular programs much like the University of California system where the deadline for most programs is by the end of November or first week of December after which there won't be any regular deadlines for these popular degrees. Once you've been able to sort out which deadlines are available for your finalised universities, plan the submission accordingly.
MBA applicants also have to check the rounds of applications that are being offered by the respective B-Schools that you have shortlisted for your applications. Most of the first round applications are submitted in September or October of the year before the intake year i.e. Sep/Oct 2024 for the 2025 intake. Round 2 will be mostly in either December or January and Round 3 would be March/April of the intake year. There can also be a few B-Schools that offer an added Round of applications but it is not advisable to apply in the last deadline.
Apart from checking the deadlines and planning your applications accordingly, there are a few important points to remember during this process. The first and foremost is for you to apply in the initial deadlines which end by the month of December in the year prior to the intake year so that you have a higher chance of acceptance given your profile and also options to receive or apply for scholarships.
The second is that it is imperative for you to apply at all the dream and ambitious universities in your shortlist by the initial deadlines ending in December due to intensive competition for a place at these highly sought after universities. This also holds true for very popular programs in the area of computer science, mechanical engineering, business and management and many more.
Another point to add here would be for you all to understand the application requirements of each university where you plan on applying and procure all that is required for a seamless application.
If you plan your application process in a well structured manner by taking the advised pointers, you will be able to manage your time better and also avoid last minute issues related to the submission of applications.
Please note that only planning applications will not help you secure admits but the major components like an accurate shortlist as per your profile; the quality of your SOP, essays, LORs; excellent preparation for admission interviews; a high test score are taken into account by the AdComs while considering your profile.
All the best for your application process and feel free to connect in case you require any help.
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