With the November 1st deadline for college applications in the rear view mirror, many seniors are regretting that they did not submit an early action application to their ideal college.

Luckily, regular decision is still available, but the top-shelf decision would have been to submit your application before the early action deadline.

There really are quite a few differences between early action, early decision, and regular decision. Early action is the first wave of applications sent to a school and is nonbinding, meaning, if accepted, you do not have to go there. For UMBC and UMCP, the early action date was November 1st.

Early decision is almost identical to early action except it is binding. That means if you are accepted to the college, then you have to go there. Only one of your applications can be early decision. The third type of application is regular decision. This is the second and final wave of applications and is also nonbinding. For UMBC and UMCP, the dates are February 1st and January 20th, respectively. Applying after these dates is considered rolling admission and doesn’t guarantee any spots if the college’s incoming freshman class is full.

For College Park, all of the early action applications get priority over regular decision applications for any money or scholarships awarded by the school. This means that, by waiting to apply later, the amount of money one may potentially receive is slim-pickings.

College Park is a great school and is close by, so you can bet that many, if not most, Montgomery County students will apply and end up going there, so it is best to stake your claim early before everyone has college fever. “All roads lead to College Park” is a common mantra in today’s high-cost college world.

With any type of application, there is a possibility of rejection. Applying early action gets the decision of the college back sooner than regular decision will. As a result, there is less fretting and stress when waiting to hear back from the colleges. Also, having free time after being rejected, if that happens, allows more time to reassess one’s circumstances and plan out a new course of action for life after high school.

It is too late for this year’s seniors to apply early action, but there is still time for the juniors to have fair-warning and be ready for it next year.

To be ready, I recommend building a resume and brag sheet in the summer, and begin your applications as soon as they become available.