Now is the Time to Work on Regular Decision Applications
Early Decision (ED) applications are in. Right now, they are being combed through by admissions officers. You might be thinking there isn’t much to do but sit and wait. You couldn’t be more wrong!
Regular Decision (RD) applications are due at the beginning of January. That’s right around the corner. Between now and then, you have to finish the current semester, and you probably have family or holiday plans over the winter break. Now is the time to work on those RD applications.
Seriously. We see this happen every year: A student will work hard to get their ED applications submitted and then relax while they wait. Flash forward a couple of weeks to the student rushing in circles and canceling family trips or holiday plans to finish their RD applications after they received a deferral or, worse, a rejection. This isn’t an exaggeration. The ED acceptances don’t arrive until around mid-December. And if you are deferred or aren’t accepted in the early round, this leaves only about two weeks to complete and submit your RD applications.
The hardest part of the RD applications is writing the many supplemental essays. You’re familiar with these, having written a few for your ED applications. Each college has their own list of supplemental essay prompts. For your convenience, we have posted many of the prompts for the more competitive colleges in various posts (ex: Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Ivy+ colleges). But still check each college’s website in case there have been updates, and make sure you write the most accurate and appropriate essays possible.
Though the essays seem short (around 300-500 words, on average), you will be mistaken in thinking that they’re easy to write. Admissions officers seek self-reflection and introspection – attributes that require time and serious thought. You should leave enough time to write each essay once, step away from it for a day or so, and come back to make edits and revisions. Expect each essay to take multiple days to compose. And whatever you do, DO NOT rely on AI (ChatGPT, etc.) to write your essays. We’ve written about this here, here, and here. AI-generated essays will not gain you acceptance into a top college.
In addition to writing the supplemental essays, you need to make sure you give your high school guidance counselor plenty of time to review them, as most will typically want to provide you with feedback. Also allow your high school ample time to send your transcript to the colleges to which you’re applying. Additionally, make sure you have your letters of recommendation submitted by the deadlines. You have so much to do – please don’t wait!
If you’re having trouble writing your supplemental essays, reach out to Ivy Link before it’s too late. Our essay specialists and advisors work with students to compose focused and reflective essays. But again, don’t wait until the last minute. If you do, we may not have time to help you meet the application deadlines.
