Why I Believe Early Decision is the Best Way to Apply to Northeastern University

When I started my college search, choosing which school to apply to for early decision felt like the most important decision I had to make. Making a decision that binds you to something for four or more years of your life is no easy task. But for me, I believe that it's an incredible choice at Northeastern. Early decision is a binding contract between an applicant and a university where if you are admitted, then you are to enroll and withdraw any other applications. At Northeastern, Early Decision is binding only if you're admitted to your first-choice program among the five First-Year options. However, if you're admitted to a different program than your first choice, the decision becomes non-binding. But what makes Northeastern a good choice to bind to? Here’s why I believe that applying ED to Northeastern was the best decision I made in my college process.

1. The Northeastern Difference

Applying to a school ED has a lot of benefits. Mainly, you get a decision back early and you get to show that school that they are your number one choice. While these benefits are great, Northeastern offers even more.

Before diving into Northeastern's ED benefits, it's worth comparing your choices. ED1 (November deadline) offers the most advantages at Northeastern, including all the financial perks discussed below. ED2 (January deadline) is still binding and demonstrates strong interest, and comes with the same benefits as ED1. Early Action (November deadline) is non-binding and lets you hear back sooner, but it doesn’t come with any of the special ED benefits. . Regular Decision offers the most flexibility but has the longest wait and no additional perks. Overall, if you think Northeastern is your school, ED1 maximizes your benefits.

When applying ED to Northeastern, my application fee was waived and I was eligible to receive early group advising sessions, which were all great bonuses at the time Even though I had to submit my application early, the fee waiver made my application simple to submit and I got a great head start to Northeastern with the early group advising sessions. These advising sessions are a group meeting with advisors from Northeastern before you even meet your full time advisor. Overall the sessions helped me set up for success when it came to choosing courses during my first year at Northeastern and with applying to co-op. 

Another reason applying ED was an easy decision for me was having an early estimate of my financial aid. Since applying ED meant I couldn’t compare any financial aid packages, it was very helpful to see an estimate of my aid first and made it easier for my family when it came to applying to schools.

Adding to these benefits are the Global Experience Fund and the NU Accelerate Scholarship. The Global Experience Fund gives any ED applicant a $5,000 fund that can be used for any of Northeastern's Global Experiences such as Dialogue of Civilizations, Semester In, Summer In, and traditional study abroad.

For me, the most helpful benefit was with the NU Accelerate Scholarship, which awards a $17,000 scholarship that can be used for two remote and asynchronous courses the summer after  senior year and before college. This allowed me to adjust a lot easier to college courses. Through this opportunity, I took Discrete Structures and Introduction to Communications. This allowed me to finish two courses that I would be required to take during my time at Northeastern much earlier and took a lot of stress off my shoulders, while being completely free.

2. Knowing What's Right

Before you can decide to ED to a school, you have to know what you want. Who knows if you will like living in a city, like the campus, or whether or not the community is the right fit for you? When I was applying I had some criteria: firstly, I wanted the “campus feel” while still being able to go and explore a new area. I also wanted a dedicated program in computer science, while still being able to pursue other fields. Finally, I just wanted to feel like the people around me were my crowd.

An experience I share with everyone else I know who applied ED to Northeastern is the moment it clicks that you fit. For me, this moment came when I went to a program at Northeastern called “Preview Day” , where everyone got to attend information sessions for different schools and other programming events. As I was walking around the campus, I realized that I truly could see myself going to Northeastern. Everything I was looking forward to about college, I could see at Northeastern. I knew I wanted to be able to explore, and Northeastern gave me this opportunity through both combined majors and the city of Boston. I also knew I wanted to have a traditional campus lifestyle, and Northeastern's campus felt contained with just the right amount of Boston creeping in. I was never really certain about any major, and hearing that switching your major was more simple at Northeastern since students are admitted to the University rather than an individual college was another reason for me to apply. Finally, the other prospective students I met really felt like a crowd I wanted to be surrounded by and work with. So in all, Preview Day truly solidified my belief that Northeastern was the right fit for me.

3. Conclusion

I don't regret applying ED to Northeastern at all— in fact, I feel like it was the best decision I made for my college career. Still, if you are thinking about that decision, try to find that moment that clicks for you and put as much thought into it as you can. If any of these benefits sound good to you and you feel like Northeastern is the right fit, then ED might be right for you. There are two ways to apply ED: Early Decision I due on November 1st and Early Decision II due on January 1st. If you want more specific information about Early Decision benefits, you can check it out here!