As the second semester has started up, some Aliso Niguel students have begun to receive college acceptances, some even from notably prestigious universities. Through admission plans like early action and early decision, many of those who put in their applications early already received decisions back. Some lucky few were accepted, ending their college application process altogether.
Most early action and early decision applications were due around October and November. This allowed colleges to review the early pool of applicants, offering results of admissions, deferrals, and rejections around early December to late January. The most high-profile schools all sent out their admission decisions around the dates of December 13-15 at different times.
Students who are admitted to a school through the early decision plan are bound to their application, meaning they must attend the school they are accepted to and withdraw applications to all other schools. However, this also slightly increases a student’s odds of getting admitted to a certain school, so those applying early decision to a school often do so to their top choice only.
On the other hand, deferral is only a decision given to those applying early as their application then gets reviewed again during the regular decision plan, but the student is neither rejected nor accepted, merely marked for further consideration. Letters of continued interest help deferred students gain an advantage during the regular decision round. Rejections remain the same for all decision plans.
Early action is not binding, though, so it is similar to regular decision, only allowing students to get their application in early and a slightly earlier decision to take the stress off a student’s plate.
Most schools that offer early admission plans are private schools that are out-of-state for California residents, so many of Aliso Niguel’s students did not apply early to schools. As the most popular schools for students to apply to are the UCs and Cal States, these early college acceptances leave out a notable portion of the student body.
Two students at Aliso have been admitted to Ivy League schools through early decisions: Jayme Chen (12) to the University of Pennsylvania and Shine Lee (12) to Brown University.
Jayme Chen, one of the early admits, speaks about her decision, “I applied early because I was sure that this was my top choice, and if I got in I’d love to go. I feel relieved and free being done with my college applications.”
Other prestigious schools received applications from many Aliso students, though none were admitted due to the competitive nature of the process.
Some notable out-of-state schools that took students from Aliso were Rice University, admitting Valerie Valentin (12) and Vanderbilt University with Eesha Bellad (12).
Another of the early admits, Valerie Valentin, also provides some insight, “I applied early, specifically early decision, because it was my top college, and I would’ve chosen it over any other colleges anyway if I got in for regular decision. I’m pretty fortunate that I did because the acceptance rate was much higher, and honestly I don’t think I would’ve gotten in if I hadn’t done it early.”
Many more students will undoubtedly be admitted to prestigious schools and possibly even more Ivy Leagues when regular decisions come out, since the large majority of students apply through regular and not early decision. However, those admissions decisions do not come out until late March or early April.
