Regular Admission (RD):

The usual schedule where students apply to colleges in the fall or winter and receive an answer in the spring

Early Decision (ED):

Allows students to apply in the fall to the school of their first choice and receive an answer by early winter. Generally must agree to attend if the college admits you.

Early Action (EA):

Like Early Decision, except that students, if admitted, are not obligated to attend the college.

Single choice early action (SCEA) or Restricted Early Action (REA): is like early action, but the student can apply early to only one college. If you apply early action to a single choice early action college, you cannot apply early action or early decision to any other college.

Waiting List or Deferral:

Application is neither accepted nor rejected but rather held in limbo in case an opening develops later. If you applied EA or ED and get deferred, your application will roll to the regular admissions applicant pool.

Denied:

You were not accepted into the university, no reconsideration nor appellation process is available.

Advantages of applying Early Decision and Early Action...

• Higher acceptance rates. Acceptance rates tend to be higher for the early action and early decision application pools. This might be partly due to self-selection, since early applicants tend to have strong academic profiles. Also, applying early is a form of demonstrated interest. Colleges like early action and early decision because it lets them fill their classes sooner.
• Stress reduction. Although applying by an earlier deadline can be stressful, getting accepted early can reduce stress because you’ll know you’ve been accepted by at least one college.
• More time. Students who get in early have more time to consider their options and might make better decisions about where to enroll.

Disadvantages of applying early action and early decision...

• Binding commitment to enroll. Applying early decision may be problematic for low-income students, since you can’t compare college financial aid packages to find the college with the lowest net price. Students who apply early decision agree to withdraw applications from other colleges if they are accepted early. If the financial aid award is inadequate, some colleges will allow applicants to back out of the early decision acceptance. Please revise the early decision contract for your school of choice regarding financial aid packages.
• Less financial aid. The average financial aid package is lower for students accepted through early action and early decision. This may be because students who apply earlier tend to be wealthier. Generally, colleges do not award less financial aid to early decision applicants because of the binding commitment. In fact, there’s more financial aid available to early applicants, because the college has not yet exhausted its financial aid budget.
• Senioritis. Getting accepted early may contribute to senioritis, where your academic performance declines. However, colleges can and do revoke offers of admission if your grades drop.

Jennifer's secret to decide between applying ED or EA: