What is Rolling Admission and How Does That Affect Me?

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What is it?

According to Wikipedia rolling admission is “a policy used by many colleges to admit freshmen to undergraduate programs. Many law schools in the United States also have rolling admissions policies. Under rolling admission, candidates are invited to submit their applications to the university anytime within a large window.”

How can it help me?

Apparently, universities with rolling admissions policies accept applications on a “rolling” or wide deadline . That means that they review and evaluate them as they arrive. It’s the old idea of first come- first serve. In this case, that usually means that if there is limited space those who apply first will get chosen. To get the most out of rolling admissions it would be wise for students to apply as soon as possible, though we need  to remember that students should always put their best foot forward to colleges. It’s important that students submit grades that were their best.  If that means it’s necessary to wait until Senior year to apply because  Junior year scores weren’t as high as they could be – then wait. Consider all the factors involved.

When students apply to rolling admissions universities or any university for that matter, they need to make sure that they have completed and submitted all parts of the application. If a part is left off or incomplete, the university isn’t obligated to contact them and let them know. Consequently, the application may be stuck in an incomplete file.

Rolling admission is a great opportunity when students use it to their advantage.  An added advantage is that these universities and colleges will typically let the student know what sort of “turn around” time they should expect. This could vary with the time of year that application was made. Often, schools are inundated with applications in the summer. Rolling admission makes it easy to avoid those congested times of year.

 

Advantages

Students can apply when convenient – sometimes far in advance

Students are often told the “turn around” time

Students can avoid “stress” and have more flexible options

 

Disadvantages

Students need to use rolling admissions early in the application process

Students may need to wait to apply due to grades

Last minute applications could be slow  and competitive depending on congested times

Sometimes there are still deadlines

Students may feel pressured to make a final decision early

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January 23, 2017