If you missed the typical college application window, it’s not too late.
You have to deal with a lot: balancing school, work, family, and friends. Or maybe you didn’t decide you really wanted to go to college until spring of your senior year. Or maybe you’ve gotten some acceptances but want to explore other options. Fortunately, there’s a solution that fits your schedule and needs: rolling admission.
“Rolling admission” means that a school doesn’t have a hard deadline for applications. Instead, they evaluate applications as they come in, until they’ve filled a class. Many colleges and universities offer rolling admissions to students. And rolling admissions offer you more flexibility.
Sounds pretty good, right? But if you want to take advantage of this special admission policy, you need to learn more about what it is and how it works.
Keep reading to discover what rolling admissions are and how you can benefit from this policy in a big way.
What Is Rolling Admission?
Simply put, a rolling admission policy means that a college or university is willing to accept applications as they “roll” in. This is different from a typical admission policy in which you can only apply for admission during limited windows.
Traditionally, colleges and universities have set deadlines (often in November, December, or January) for you to submit applications. And if your application comes in any later, you would normally be incapable of being admitted for the upcoming fall semester.
In some cases, universities and colleges with rolling admissions may use a rolling admission policy while also setting priority admission deadlines. For example, students may need to apply by certain dates to receive priority chances to get scholarships or other financial aid, but they can still apply past those dates for admission due to the rolling policy.
What Is the Purpose of a Rolling Admission Policy?
A rolling admission policy helps colleges and universities attract more high-quality applicants while reducing the number of applications that have to be processed at the same time. This policy also gives students more time to send their applications out.
For the most part, colleges and universities want to attract the best possible college students. These are students who will make good grades, accomplish great things, and eventually graduate and generally make the college look really good.
Many of these schools realized their strict admissions deadlines were actually limiting the number of high-quality applicants they were getting. Like, be honest: everyone knows at least one really smart person that gets distracted and misses the occasional deadline. Heck, you might recognize that person when you look in the mirror! But with a rolling admission policy, both the student and the school stand to benefit.
As an added bonus, a rolling admission policy means there are generally fewer applications for the school’s admissions department to process all at once. This makes things easier for that department while giving the college an opportunity to be more selective about who it does and does not accept.
It turns out that taking your time to apply might make things easier for the school of your dreams!
When Is Best To Apply With Rolling Admission?
For the most part, you should still apply to schools with rolling admission deadlines as soon as you can: ultimately, colleges and universities still have a limited number of seats available. So even if the college may accept rolling admission applications relatively late compared to other institutions, they may effectively “fill up” before the rolling deadline, especially if you are trying to get into a competitive or otherwise limited program.
And, as we noted before, most institutions that have a rolling admission policy still set priority deadlines for things like financial aid. There may also be priority deadlines for admission to special classes, programs, or organizations. You are typically better off applying to the institutions of your choice as soon as you can.
Want to make life easier for yourself? Compile a list of schools you’d like to apply to and write down the different application due dates, including priority deadlines for financial aid and scholarships. This lets you figure out which applications need to go out by which date, and you’ll be less overwhelmed than you would if you tried to handle all of the applications at the same time. (Bonus: you can pretty frequently reuse essays for different schools’ supplemental prompts and save yourself a ton of time.)
How Rolling Admission Differs From A Standard Decision Policy
Most institutions with a standard decision policy require you to apply for fall admission by December or, at the latest, January. With a rolling admissions policy, you may be able to submit an application much later than that.
In fact, many institutions with this policy accept applications by April or even later for the upcoming fall semester. And sometimes, the rolling policy means you can submit an application earlier than you could with a standard decision policy.
Long story short? While standard decision policy is still the norm (it’s even got “standard” right there in the name), an increasing number of great colleges and universities have switched to rolling admissions.
How Rolling Admission Differs From An Early Action Policy
An Early Action Policy means that the college or university will allow you to apply to the institution and receive a decision earlier than you normally could. With a rolling admission policy, you will receive a decision later than you would with an Early Action Policy.
For example, EAP schools often allow you to apply for admission by November and then receive a decision by the end of the calendar year instead of hearing back from them sometime in the spring. This is an attractive option if you are particularly nervous about getting into a school you have your heart set on.
With a rolling admission policy, students typically submit their applications far later than November. And while some rolling policies do let you submit your application earlier than you could under a standard decision policy, you are still unlikely to hear back from the school as early as you would with an early action policy.
If you are interested in taking advantage of an Early Action Policy, definitely write down the different colleges and universities you are interested in that have such a policy!
Advantages of Rolling Admissions
The biggest advantages of a rolling admissions policy are that students have more time to apply and have better odds of getting into the college of their choice, all while enjoying a less stressful experience.
The first advantage is pretty simple to understand. Remember when we said that a rolling admission policy makes it easier for admissions departments who don’t have to process all those applications at once (something that would make any admissions specialist want to bang their head against the wall)? This also works to the advantage of those who are sending out multiple college applications. You don’t have to worry about doing all of them at once and can effectively space out the applications you send (and it’s fine to admit that you could definitely use a little breathing room when it comes to the application process).
Speaking of spacing out your applications, rolling admissions can also make college applications a little less stressful. That happens pretty naturally when you don’t have to handle a lot of high-pressure applications (which often require time-consuming supplements) all at once. And this is particularly important if you are currently a high school student because it can relieve some of the stress of senior year. Alternatively, you could probably channel that stress into a big animal scream each day, but that might just scare away your family and friends. (Whatever approach you take to stress management, please try to avoid just bottling it up—not super healthy.)
Finally, a rolling admission policy can possibly give you better odds of getting into the college or university of your choice. For example, applying earlier on in the rolling window means more seats will be available and your odds will be better. At the same time, you can afford to potentially take additional time to study for your SAT or ACT exam and do well, further improving your odds of admission. If you suffer test anxiety (and if so, you aren’t alone), this can be a real game-changer for your chances of getting into a school you really want.
Disadvantages of Rolling Admissions
Does rolling admission sound too good to be true so far? Don’t freak out; this policy is the real deal! But there are still a couple of disadvantages you should be aware of:
The spots may fill up quicker than you think, even with a rolling admission policy. This means that someone waiting until later in the rolling window may not be able to get into the college of their dreams simply because there is no room left.
The institution is likely to still have priority deadlines. So even when a rolling policy is available, you may have an incentive to apply early to maximize your chances of getting admitted and also getting the most scholarships and other financial aid that you may qualify for. And with the rising costs of tuition, most students need every spare dollar they can earn! (Important side note: please be wary of taking on a lot of debt.)
Who Benefits the Most From a Rolling Admission Policy?
Rolling admission works well for those who wish to apply to college either sooner or later than the standard deadlines. It is also beneficial for “nontraditional” students who did not immediately go to college directly after high school.
If you’re willing to apply earlier in the process (the early bird gets the acceptance-letter-shaped worm and all that), rolling admission is a great way to get admitted to college sooner rather than later. So if you have been stressing out about getting admitted, this may be a great option for you. You may also be able to improve your chances of getting scholarships and financial aid. Because of this, rolling admission is great for those worried about paying for college and/or graduating college with too much debt.
If you’re thinking of applying a little later in the rolling window (maybe you know you’ll be swamped with midterm papers and are looking at Jan 1 deadlines like, “nooo way”), this policy is a good way to give yourself more time to complete all of your applications.
Finally, a rolling admission policy is great if you’ve taken a less traditional path to college. This may include those who took a gap year or those who went into the workforce rather than attending college right out of high school. In short, the extra time afforded by a rolling admissions policy is great for those who have been living and working outside of the normal time frames of a standard admissions policy.
Top Schools with Rolling Admission
Not every university or college has an open admission policy, but a surprising number of them do. With that in mind, what are some of the strongest colleges with rolling admissions?
University of Pittsburgh
Rutgers University
Indiana University
University of Minnesota
Binghamton University
Michigan State University
University at Buffalo
Creighton University
Recommendation Letters and Rolling Admission
While a rolling admission policy is very beneficial, taking full advantage of it may require planning. For example, such a policy may affect when you ask your teachers and counselors for letters of recommendation.
As a general rule, it’s good to ask for letters of recommendation at least one month before the deadline. This gives the person time to write a thoughtful and persuasive letter and ensures that you aren’t scrambling to get everything in at the last minute. Otherwise, you might end up with a generic recommendation that doesn’t really showcase your strengths, all while annoying the people who were willing to help you out by writing a letter in the first place.
Just as we recommend you apply to colleges earlier (even those with a rolling admission policy), we recommend asking for letters of recommendation earlier. In some cases, the teachers and other professionals you might get a letter of recommendation from may only write so many in any given semester or year. Asking earlier gives you a better chance of getting the letters you need.
Long story not very short? There is no real downside to asking for letters early. You give your colleagues and mentors more time to write the letter and end up with something far better than a generic rush job letter!
Rolling Admission and When To Take the SAT/ACT
How much are you looking forward to taking the SAT or ACT? We’re thinkin’ that most students might bubble in “D” for “don’t want to take it just yet!”
But a major part of the college application process is submitting your standardized test scores. And it’s important to take these exams early enough to allow yourself a second chance at the test while still having enough time to submit scores as part of your application.
When, then, should you plan to take the SAT/ACT? In a perfect world, you should take the exam during the fall of your junior year of high school. This gives you time to take the exam again in the spring of junior year, and/or fall of senior year if needed.
This will put you in a good position to take the test multiple times until you get the best possible score. And once you have the score you need, you will be fine to apply to schools no matter what their admission policy happens to be.
If you follow these steps, “multiple choice” will apply to your college career and not just to those annoying exams.
Starting the Personal Essay
For many students, the toughest part of the college application experience is writing the personal statement. But to get through it, you should think about the wisdom of Mark Twain, who once said “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” Twain was speaking metaphorically about knocking out the most difficult part of your day as soon as you can. After that, everything else will seem easy!
With that in mind, when should you start working on the personal essay? We recommend scoping out the colleges you want to apply to your junior year and learning if any of the schools on your list have supplemental essay prompts. If you want to look at the supplemental prompts first, that’s fine, but we’d recommend not looking at the main personal statement prompts until AFTER you’ve done some quality brainstorming. Why?
You might draw a blank, and (hopefully not but maybe) panic when you first see the prompts. That panic comes from worrying about what you could possibly write about. So, when you’re ready to sit down and begin writing the personal statement, we recommend you first complete some essay brainstorming exercises. These can help you compile a list of important experiences, decisions, and qualities before you look at the prompts. After those brainstorming exercises, you’ll have plenty of potential material to start with. This lets you focus on essay structure (for example, will you be focusing on a single experience from your life, or several moments?).
After you complete your initial draft, seek feedback and begin making revisions. While we have a convenient 5 step revision process, be ready to complete multiple revisions before your final draft is ready.
Other Ways To Make the Most Out of Rolling Admissions
There are still a few extra steps you can take to make the most out of a rolling admissions policy:
Don’t let a rolling policy affect how you approach other deadlines. Even if one college will take applications relatively late, you need to pay attention to the priority deadlines of the colleges you wish to attend.
Complete the FAFSA early on. You can typically complete the FAFSA after October 1, and doing so sooner rather than later may give you priority access to more limited types of loans in addition to the standard federal aid. Keep in mind that certain scholarships at the colleges you wish to attend may require that you complete the FAFSA for consideration.
Make the best use of the extra time that a rolling admission policy offers. Don’t think of this as time to relax and worry about college later. Instead, this extra time is perfect for revising your personal essays, getting your letters of recommendation, and researching the colleges you hope to attend before you put in the application.
Ready to go rock the face off some college applications? Now that you know more about rolling admission policies, you have more options than ever before!
Special thanks to Chris for contributing to this post
Chris Snellgrove is an English Professor at Northwest Florida State College who specializes in literature, rhetoric, and business writing. As a freelance writer, Chris specializes in sales, marketing, pop culture, and video games. He has a B.A. in English from Troy University and both an M.A. and Ph.D. in English from Auburn University. When he’s not writing or talking to others about writing, Chris loves reading books, playing video games, watching horror movies, and disappearing into a comic book. He currently lives in Northwest Florida and would probably rather be at the beach right now.
Top values: Diversity / Equality / Social Justice
