Most 12th grade students are familiar with hard deadlines for their college applications. There are early action/early decision (EA/ED) deadlines in November and regular decision (RD) deadlines in January. But what does “rolling admissions” mean? Who should apply to these schools and when?
In this article, we will answer all of your questions about rolling admission. We’ll also discuss the pros and cons of applying to schools with rolling admissions and provide you with a list of notable schools with rolling admissions policies.
What Is rolling admission?
Before we get too ahead of ourselves, what does rolling admission mean? Rolling admission is a type of college application process. If a school uses this process, admission officers review students’ applications as they receive them and send acceptance and rejection letters right away.
Rather than have one application deadline, admissions officers continuously review applications in the order that they receive them until they have reached their allotted quota of accepted students. So while it’s true that these colleges don’t have a set rolling admission deadline, it’s best not to wait too long! Applying on the earlier side will ensure that there are still openings in the program.
How does rolling admission work?
Now that we’ve discussed the definition of “rolling admission,” let’s take a closer look at how it works. Applying through rolling admission is the same as applying through other application deadlines. The main difference is that you can continue to work on your application and submit it as soon as you’re ready. Unlike other application deadlines, instead of waiting months for a response, you can expect to hear back a few weeks after submitting your application.
You can apply to schools that offer rolling admission just as you would for a regular decision deadline. This will typically be through the Common App, Coalition App, or the school’s personal application portal. There is no special application process you need to complete to apply to a school with rolling admission.
For more information about what colleges look for in applicants, check out our article, College Admissions Committee Review: What Actually Happens.
Now that we’ve discussed the definition of “rolling admission,” let’s take a closer look at how it works. Applying through rolling admission is the same as applying through other application deadlines. The main difference is that you can continue to work on your application and submit it as soon as you’re ready. Unlike other application deadlines, instead of waiting months for a response, you can expect to hear back a few weeks after submitting your application.
You can apply to schools that offer rolling admission just as you would for a regular decision deadline. This will typically be through the Common App, Coalition App, or the school’s personal application portal. There is no special application process you need to complete to apply to a school with rolling admission.
For more information about what colleges look for in applicants, check out our article, College Admissions Committee Review: What Actually Happens.
Advantages of rolling admissions
There are several benefits to applying to one or more schools that offer rolling admissions. In addition to giving you more time to work on your applications, you can also expect a quick turnaround time for your college decision. For more insight into the advantages of applying to rolling admission schools, consider the 4 advantages listed below:
More time to work on applications
Since deadlines for rolling admissions are significantly longer, you can spend more time working on various aspects of your application, like improving your grades, reviewing your personal statement, and bringing up your standardized test scores. You can also take time to commit yourself more fully to your extracurricular activities.
Once you’ve finished completing applications with earlier deadlines, you can spend a few more weeks editing, revising, and making sure your rolling admission applications are perfect. This is a great way to help you manage college application stress.
Smaller applicant pool
Since your application is reviewed as soon as it’s submitted, one of the advantages of rolling admission is that you aren’t being compared alongside every single other application. That being said, admissions officers will make their decision based on the number of spots that remain in the incoming class. So the earlier you apply via rolling admissions, the less students you’ll be competing with for admission.
Flexibility
Unlike Early Decision applications, rolling admission deadlines aren’t binding. You can apply to as many schools as you want and you are not bound by a contract to attend that school.
Most importantly, rolling admission allows you to continue to apply to schools once you’ve received admission decisions from your early action and/or early decision applications. This is a great back-up option to have. If you get rejected, deferred, or waitlisted from your top choice schools, you can work more seriously on your rolling admission applications.
Quick turnaround time
Another great advantage of rolling admissions is that you’ll hear back much sooner than schools that are waiting to receive all of their applications. You can expect to hear back with a decision from the school within six weeks.
This can allow you to plan accordingly. If it was your first choice school, great! No more applying. If it was a safety school, this is also great. You know you at least have somewhere to attend in the fall.
Drawbacks of rolling admission
Despite its many advantages, there are some drawbacks to consider when applying to schools with rolling admissions. So before you think of rolling admission universities as a foolproof safety net, you’ll want to consider the two drawbacks listed below:
Spots fill up quickly
Despite the added time to work on your application, applying early to rolling admissions schools can significantly increase your chance of acceptance. Because admissions officers are filling in their admitted class as they go, there are more available spots earlier in the application process.
Remember, there are only so many spots to fill at the university and if you wait too long, those spots might not be available. So while you definitely have time to curate the perfect application, you don’t want to wait too long. A perfectly qualified applicant can still get denied because there are no more spots.
More opportunities to procrastinate
On a similar note, the lack of a hard deadline allows for more chances to procrastinate. You might think to yourself “Well, it isn’t due tomorrow, so I can put it off for another week” until it’s mid-April and you still haven’t submitted. The earlier you apply, the sooner you hear back from the school, and the higher your chances are of being accepted.
If you find yourself struggling with procrastination, check out our article, Applying to Multiple Colleges: Tips to Stay Organized and Meet Deadlines.
Should you apply to schools with rolling admissions?
You should consider applying to rolling admission colleges if you’re actively working towards improving your grades and test scores. This will give you extra time to study and retake the SAT or ACT before submitting your final application.
It’s also a good idea to apply to at least one rolling admission school as a safety or back-up option if you are waiting to hear back from a more selective college or university. While it’s important to Create a Balanced College List during the fall, if you’re worried you didn’t apply to enough “fit” and “safety” schools, you can always apply to more schools with rolling admission.
For information about what college admissions officers look for in an applicant, click here.
You should consider applying to rolling admission colleges if you’re actively working towards improving your grades and test scores. This will give you extra time to study and retake the SAT or ACT before submitting your final application.
It’s also a good idea to apply to at least one rolling admission school as a safety or back-up option if you are waiting to hear back from a more selective college or university. While it’s important to Create a Balanced College List during the fall, if you’re worried you didn’t apply to enough “fit” and “safety” schools, you can always apply to more schools with rolling admission.
For information about what college admissions officers look for in an applicant, click here.
When to apply to rolling admissions colleges
As previously mentioned, it’s a good idea to apply to schools with rolling admissions if you feel like you need more time to work on your application. You might also want to apply to rolling admission schools after you’ve completed other college applications. This will help you maximize your college acceptances come spring.
If you are applying to a rolling admissions school with the hopes of improving your grades or test scores, then you should wait to retest and take the time to make your application as strong as possible. Some colleges that offer rolling admissions will also have a priority deadline which offers students a higher chance of getting accepted. If this is a top choice school for you, you should consider completing your application by the priority deadline.
To reiterate, in the rolling admissions process, there are more spots to be filled the sooner you submit, which means that submitting early is an easy way to boost your chances of admission. Similarly, even if you are extremely qualified, it can be much harder to be admitted if there are simply not enough spots available as the final deadline approaches.
25 Colleges with rolling admissions
Rolling admission schools are a great way to maximize your acceptances and spread out your application workload. Here is a list of 25 of the best colleges with rolling admission:
Key takeaways and moving forward
To summarize, rolling admission means that college applications are continually reviewed as admissions officers receive them. Students receive college decisions right away. If you’re applying to a rolling admissions college as a safety school, you should prioritize your early decision or regular decision applications with earlier deadlines. That being said, don’t let this keep you from submitting your rolling admissions applications as soon as possible. Remember, the later you apply, the fewer openings they’ll have left.
If come spring, you still aren’t happy with your college options, you may want to look into taking a gap year and reapplying to schools next year. You may also want to look into the possibility of Transferring Credit from Community Colleges to Universities.
To summarize, rolling admission means that college applications are continually reviewed as admissions officers receive them. Students receive college decisions right away. If you’re applying to a rolling admissions college as a safety school, you should prioritize your early decision or regular decision applications with earlier deadlines. That being said, don’t let this keep you from submitting your rolling admissions applications as soon as possible. Remember, the later you apply, the fewer openings they’ll have left.
If come spring, you still aren’t happy with your college options, you may want to look into taking a gap year and reapplying to schools next year. You may also want to look into the possibility of Transferring Credit from Community Colleges to Universities.
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