Many Catholic colleges offer early action and early decision admissions. In both cases, the deadline for these options is typically in November.
Early Action admissions usually require student's applications to be submitted by November, with a decision from the college being made by December or January. Students are not bound by the college's decision and are free to continue applying or pursuing other colleges. The benefit of an early action admission process is that students can know early in the admissions process if they are accepted to one or two colleges while continuing to apply to others they may want. It can be a great way to know if they can begin the preparation for their dream college early, if they need to keep hunting, or if they have a college safely in their back pocket while they continue to search for their ideal fit.
Early decision admission is similar to early action admission in that the deadline for applications is usually around November and the decision from the college usually comes during December or January. However, early decision admissions bind students to the college if they student is accepted. Students who choose to take part in early decision admissions agree to commit to the college if they are accepted. This means that upon acceptance, students must withdraw any applications that they submitted to other colleges. Early decision is great for students if they are applying to their top-choice colleges. If students are not absolutely sure they want to go to a college, then early decision admissions is not the way to go.
While many Catholic colleges offer both early action and early decision admissions, each college is different, and some may not offer both. Students should check with the admissions department of the college(s) they are interested in and ask about options for early action/early decision admissions.