What Are Rolling Admissions

With college application season coming to a close, there are still many options for students who have yet to apply for college or are looking for more schools to apply to. Schools with rolling admissions can save students who feel they have missed their opportunity to apply to college. You haven’t! What are rolling admissions? Rolling admissions is a college admission policy in which colleges set up a large window of time for applicants to submit their application. Admission is usually based on a first come first serve basis, so as applications roll in, universities decide if an applicant is admitted soon after they receive the application. Universities will close admissions if all the spots are full or when their hard deadline comes up. Advantages: Students are given an admission decision within 2 months of their application being submitted You can apply later (after â€Å"college application season†) and potentially still be admitted if there are spots available Less stressful de to the large window to send in application Disadvantages: To take full advantage of rolling admissions, students should apply in the beginning of the admissions window There are still deadlines, just further apart Depending on the time you apply, competition to get in the school can be very high Spots may fill quickly, causing more qualified students to be shut out Popular schools with rolling admissions: Pennsylvania State University—University Park Purdue University—West Lafayette (IN) University of Pittsburgh University of Minnesota—Twin Cities Indiana University—Bloomington Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey—New Brunswick Michigan State University University of Tulsa (OK) Binghamton University—SUNY Stony Brook University—SUNY Academy of Art University The Takeaway: Rolling admissions can be a blessing and a curse. If used properly, rolling admissions can give applicants the upper hand in being admitted and receiving their admissions decision quickly. It can also save students who decide to apply to college last minute. Be careful when applying to schools with rolling admissions, the later you apply, the higher risk you can be rejected due to limited space as well as a longer wait time to receive your admission decision due to an increase of applications to review. Good luck as your admission decisions roll in!