• Early action (EA) - Nonbinding admissions process for students to apply to college earlier than the regular deadline, usually in November of senior year. Students receive admissions notifications in December, and if accepted, are not required to commit. Example schools: University of Chicago, University of Michigan, University of Virginia.

• Early decision I (ED I) - Binding admissions process for students to apply to college earlier than the regular deadline, usually in November of senior year. Students receive admissions notifications in December, and if accepted, are required to commit. Example schools: Columbia University, Cornell University, Williams College. 

• Early decision II (ED II) - Binding admissions process for students to apply to college closer to the regular deadline in January. Students receive admissions notifications in mid-February, and if accepted, are required to commit. Example schools: University of Chicago, Wellesley College, Colby College. 

• Restrictive early action (REA) or single-choice early action - Different schools refer to this policy in different ways. REA/single-choice early action is a process more restrictive than early action but less committal than early decision. Students can apply only to their single-choice EA institution in the early round, with exceptions such as nonbinding applications to public or foreign universities. Students apply in November and are notified in December with no obligation to commit if accepted. Example schools: Harvard University, Yale University, Stanford University.

• Regular Decision - The vast majority of students apply regular decision, usually in January, and are notified in late March or early April. Students have no obligation to commit if accepted. Every college has a regular decision round. As we mentioned, the University of California colleges are a good example of schools with only one round, the regular round.

Teachers get asked to write a lot of letters of recommendations! Letters of recommendations can be critical when students are applying to grad school, or applying for scholarships. 

Strong letters can make a big difference , and that means it’s essential that students approach this with seriousness, maturity and professionalism.

1. Plan ahead: Ask for letters well ahead of the deadline!  Never, never assume your teacher/staff member will have the time or inclination to write a strong letter if the deadline is two days away.  Give lots of advance warning (at least several weeks).

2. Ask nicely. Approach your teacher (in person, if possible; with a telephone call, or over email), explain what you are applying for (and why), and ask whether s/he might be willing to write you a letter of support.

3. Ask what kind of letter you might get! You need to know whether it’ll be a strong letter, or one that is perhaps less in-depth.   In many cases, if I’ve only met a student in one class, and only have a grade to base a letter on, then I won’t be able to write a strong letter.  You deserve to know this, and it may affect whether or not you should ask someone else.  Don’t worry – most Academics are able to be honest (and nice) about what kind of letter they might be able to write.  You must find out, early on, so that your chances of success are as high as possible.

4. Include ALL the relevant details, in one well-composed e-mail:

   • What you are applying for (in appropriate detail – don’t just say “I’m applying to Western”)When you don’t know your teacher all that well, remind them who you are: it is helpful to state what course(s) you might have taken with the Professor, in what context, how you did in the class, and anything else to help those old minds recall who you are!.  You may think that your instructors remember you well, but this is not always the case (we see hundreds of students each year, and we are all getting older…),Provide a ‘statement of interest’ to give some context to why you are applying for a particular position or scholarship, Provide the deadline for the letter! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to email  a student to ask them what the deadline is.  It’s annoying having to deal with email overload, especially when it is avoidable. If there are PDF fillable forms, or web-links for the reference, make sure to include these! If the Professor is going to get an email from an Institution to which you are applying, make it clear that they should expect this.

5. Follow-up! If you haven’t heard anything within a week of when you sent your one e-mail, stop by the teacher’s office, or give a phone call, to make sure that s/he received the details.

6. Make it easy: Always make the process of writing a letter of recommendation as easy as possible. In many cases PDF fillable forms have parts that are to be filled out the by candidate ahead of time – do this!  For hard copies, make sure to fill in parts that you are supposed to, and always include a stamped envelope with the address written out.  It’s YOUR job to ensure the letter gets sent by the teacher! If you are required to pick up the letter and send it in as an entire application package, provide two envelopes – one for their confidential letter, and another that they can slip the official envelope into – arrange a system by which you can pick up the letter.

7. Send a reminder… A few days before the deadline, send ONE reminder e-mail – politely remind your teacher that the deadline is approaching.

8. Say ‘Thank you’ – It is classy and professional to say thanks to whoever writes letters of recommendation for you.  If your application ends up being successful, or you get that scholarship, you can even send a post-card, or a short thank-you letter – that leaves a very positive and lasting impression (and you never know when you will need another letter…). As a minimum, send a short ‘thank you’ email.