It is that time of year again, summer is in the horizon, stress levels are rising. Seniors itching for graduation, juniors preparing to start their last year, sophomores and freshman transitioning to the high school life. College is just around the corner for some students, and their anxiety is through the roof.

The college admission process is well underway. Acceptance letters are flowing in. Some students have known about their acceptance for months now through an option called Early Decision aka ED. Although, it’s not a popular choice, it can be helpful for those set on particular schools.

ED can ease the college process because early decision is binding if you are accepted, but for some it’s a burden because if you are accepted with early decision then you have to attend that college or university. Most students still aren’t fully decided on what college or university they want to attend so they like to have multiple choices when they get accepted.

Within the unpopular decision, only a select few students from ODA’s graduating class have been accepted early decision. Quinn Birmingham and Anne Keen decided to go for it. Quinn Birmingham will attend Miami University of Ohio in the fall and Anne Keen will attend Rollins College. 

“I knew that I loved Rollins College and I’ve wanted to go there since sophomore year when we visited it on the college road trip. After the visit, I was sure that this was the school for me, so I had no issues with committing. I also liked the early decision option because I would find out early in the year and not have to worry about it anymore. When I found out I got accepted I was ecstatic because I knew I made the right choice and I was so glad that they wanted me,” says Keen.

Early decision is a great option for anyone who is certain about where they want to go because it can be done early in the year. Anne says she loved that she only had to apply to one college because she would find out early enough whether she got in. Had she been denied, she would have had plenty of time to apply to many other schools.

If you really love the school, there are no down sides of applying early decision. But be careful. Binding is binding!