Next up in our Insider’s Guide to College Admissions series, we’re answering that tough question about Early Decision (ED) applications. What are the pros and cons? Does it really give you an edge? Is there anyone who shouldn’t apply ED? Here to answer: Insider Alyse Levine, top college counselor and founder of Premium Prep.

Q: How do you know whether you should apply Early Decision to college?

A: There are 3 essential factors to consider. 

1. Be sure you have a first-choice school that you love and want to go to.

This is essential — don’t force it. You want to make absolutely sure you love the school and would attend if admitted, because an Early Decision application acceptance is binding. So visit the campus, talk to current students, and follow the school on social media. In other words, dig in and do your research before applying ED.

2. Ensure this is a school that you have a reasonable chance of getting into.

This is advice that student’s don’t hear enough. It’s totally fine for the institution to be a “reach” school, but it should be an in-range, appropriate reach. Look at it from an opportunity-cost perspective — don’t waste the “boost an ED application gives you statistically, on a school you have no chance of getting into. It could actually create a domino effect of negative outcomes, lowering your chance of getting into a college you you love during the regular application rounds, when it would have been within reach during ED. I explain this in more detail on this podcast episode.

3. Make sure you and your family feel comfortable making this commitment financially.

This is one of the really hard truths about the Early Decision option. If your family needs to be able to compare financial aid packages and consider merit money from a variety of different schools to help make your decision, applying ED might not be the best option for you.

Bonus Tips:

if you need a bit more time to research schools or complete applications, or you want to wait to first see some Early Action application results, consider the ED2 option. Many schools now offer this second ED deadline, which gives you a bit more time to make your decision but still gives you some priority over the regular admissions pool. The majority of ED2 deadlines are at the beginning of January.

You can learn more about this in a recent post on the Premium Prep blog about Decoding College Admissions: A Closer Look Into Admission Rounds. It will give you a lot of info to understand ED, ED2, EA, Regular Decision, and Rolling Admissions, and compare the pros and cons of each.

You can also read our post on Understanding Non-Traditional Application Rounds, which includes details about Restricted Early Action,  Single Choice Early Action, separate deadlines for scholarship or honors programs, as well as scenarios that are unique to individual colleges.

Alyse Levine is one of the foremost college counseling experts in the country, and Founder & CEO of our partner for this series, Premium Prep. She was previously Assistant Director of Undergraduate Admissions at Washington University in St. Louis,  Associate Director of College Counseling at The Dalton School in New York City, and Associate Director of College Counseling at the Dwight–Englewood School, in Englewood, New Jersey.

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Other questions Alyse has answered:
How do you know if a college is a good fit? 
How do I know if a college will provide a safe environment for me?
Summer job or internship? Do colleges have a preference?
What do you do if you have the one tough teacher who gives bad grades? — And other top student questions
How can I help my kids identify and develop their passions?
A grade-by-grade guide to college admissions: What should you be doing and when?