As many of you have figured out, either through social media or because you actually received a decision letter, our Fall 2012 Early Action decision letters were recently sent. If you’ve not yet received a letter, don’t panic. You should check your myUMBC account to make sure that your application is complete. If your application is complete and you’ve not yet received a letter just allow the mail person a little time to deliver your letter. Since we use old-school snail mail we cannot guarantee that everyone will get their letter on the same day, but you can expect something soon.
What does my decision mean?
Admit: Well, this one is pretty obvious, but nonetheless, congrats! Take some time to feel good about your accomplishment and share the news with family. If you were offered admission during Early Action you received an admissions packet with a bunch of information on next steps. Our enrollment deadline is not until May 1 but make sure you read through your entire admit packet. During January our Scholarships Office will begin sending merit-based scholarship offers to qualified candidates, and make sure that you also work on your FAFSA. If you have any questions about admission to UMBC and next steps please let us know.
Deferral to Regular Decision: This would be the decision letter that prompts the most questions. What is important to know about UMBC’s Early Action program is that it is more competitive than Regular Decision and we actually accept a smaller percentage of students during Early Action. A deferral to Regular Decision is not a “no” decision. Our Early Action criteria is strict so if you happen to have been deferred to Regular Decision just keep in mind that your application will be reviewed again. Early Action applicants who were deferred to Regular Decision do not need to send any additional items for their application (unless we contact you to specifically ask for something). When I’m on high school visits in the fall I always tell students to not be discouraged if they are deferred to Regular Decision; our Early Action program is simply more competitive than Regular Decision. If your application was deferred you’ll receive another decision letter toward late-February.
Once again, congratulations to our Early Action admits for the fall 2012 semester! For deferred students, just keep in mind that we’ll still be making many more offers of admission to UMBC for the fall term. As always, let us know if you have questions.
