Get your college applications done early

By Robert Wilden

12th Grade

IDEA high school students are taught the importance of college applications and why we need to attend college. However, it is never explained why it is so important to apply early to colleges and the benefits that come with it. Some benefits include scholarship opportunities and early decisions. These allow juniors and seniors to already have a lead when it comes to their education.

Colleges' early applications allow the students to be considered for more scholarship opportunities. Due to their early application, these colleges see the student’s application first and allows them to see that the student is proactive in their education. Most colleges advertise their early admission and will send out emails to students that will likely receive the scholarship. For example, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor will send you an email if you have the potential to receive their 7,000-dollar scholarship. These allow the students to receive more funding for their education from applying. 

Early decisions from colleges allow students to already start preparing for college before the end of their senior year. This lets the student already know which colleges accept them so that it isn’t a last-minute scramble to decide which college to attend at the end of their senior year. One example of this is Northern Arizona University, who will send early decision emails to students that they believe will easily be accepted. This results in students being aware of these colleges accepting them as well as what city they will be in. This helps students determine which college they want to attend early. 

Scholarship opportunities and early decisions are just a few of the benefits from applying to college early. They lead to more potential funding for college attendance and for scholars to not be left guessing which college they want to attend. If scholars wish to apply to scholarships, they can easily do so at www.bigfuture.collegeboard.org/scholarship-search.