If you don’t have much experience with college admissions, you may be surprised to learn there’s more than one way for you to apply. Each choice comes with its own set of deadlines and requirements, and the route you choose can affect your chances of acceptance.
Read on to learn the pros and cons of each major college admission type, some explanations of common decisions, and a look at how USF handles this process.
Under this admission program, you apply and receive a decision much earlier than others. Typically, you apply in early to mid-November, and you receive a decision by mid-December.
However, if accepted, you will be contractually obligated to attend that school. If you receive an acceptance letter, you must withdraw any applications to other schools.
An increasing number of colleges offer early action, and it’s exactly what it sounds like — you apply early and receive a decision early. The deadline to apply for early action typically falls sometime in November, and you will likely receive a decision sometime in December.
Early action is nonbinding, which means you are under no obligation to attend that college if you’re accepted. Early action is a fantastic alternative to early decision.
In 2025, USF established an Early Action Deadline on November 1 for summer and fall applicants. Previously, it was called our “priority application deadline,” but we adopted the common terminology moving forward to reduce confusion for our applicants.
Applying to USF by the Early Action Deadline has attractive benefits:
Please note that term and campus choice are not guaranteed for reasons discussed at the end of this article, but applying early action gives you the best odds to receive your top choices.
Applicants should also note that an application to USF is not complete until all required documents have been submitted. The Early Action Materials Deadline for summer and fall is November 15. If we don’t have all your materials by that date, you won’t qualify for Early Action.
While USF has updated our terminology, many other schools haven’t, so you may still encounter a priority deadline here and there — the final date for applicants to submit a complete application, all supporting documents, and an application fee to receive the strongest consideration for acceptance to the college.
Meeting this deadline literally gives you “priority” consideration for admission. Think of it as a fast pass for your application. Some universities may require students vying for entry into special programs, such as honors or accelerated programs, to apply by their priority deadline.
Mostly, the same pros and cons of early action apply to priority admissions, so scroll up and give those another look.
Many public universities and state colleges offer automatic admission to students who meet certain academic and/or test score requirements. You must still apply if you meet the requirements, but it’s generally a formality, and you’ll get an admission offer earlier than other students.
Since admission is guaranteed to qualified students, you’ll have one acceptance in the bag early in the admission cycle.
If you don’t meet the guaranteed admission requirements, you may have a harder time getting accepted to these schools.
This type of enrollment is typically offered by community colleges, online schools, and distance learning programs. Open admission means that nearly all high school graduates are admitted, provided they have a diploma or a General Educational Development (GED) certificate.
If you have a lower-than-average GPA in your high school courses, open admission schools can be a solid option for furthering your education.
Guaranteed admission schools may seem like a low-stress way to get admitted to college, but academically gifted students may not find the environment challenging enough.
This is the most common type of admission. Like early action, regular decision is nonbinding, but the final application deadline is typically much later.
If the college you’re applying to admits students on a rolling basis, you likely will receive a decision several weeks later. Otherwise, you will be notified on the college’s official decision day, which typically happens sometime in the spring.
Rolling admission is a first-come, first-served method most often used by large universities (including USF). In a nutshell, it means admissions officers review candidates and render decisions as applications are received, rather than waiting for a final deadline to pass, reviewing all applications, and issuing all decisions on a designated day.
Universities with rolling admission usually offer a large application window. For example, at USF, you can apply any time between August 1 and March 1 for summer and fall admission. Students are continually admitted until all slots are filled — the ones who didn’t apply during USF’s early action or regular decision periods.
Applying late may make it harder to get accepted. There can be significant competition later in the admissions cycle, and qualified applicants may not be accepted because all slots are already full.
When you finally receive an admissions decision, it may include a status that goes beyond “admitted” or “denied.” Referrals and deferrals are common.
A student who is referred may have applied to a talent-based program — something like music or art — and must wait for someone from the program to review their application. A student who may qualify for admission under a special program, like a first-generation college student, may also have their application referred to another department. In either case, your application requires additional scrutiny, and you may be asked to complete additional requirements.
A student who is deferred is not currently admissible but may be eligible for admission in the future once certain stated conditions are met. If you applied early, you may be deferred to the regular decision pool, giving you time to satisfy the school’s conditions before your application is considered again.
If you get referred or deferred, don’t panic or lose hope. Cooperate with college staff to the best of your ability and ask your high school counselor for help. Your odds of getting in are still good.
While filling out the USF application, students are allowed to pick their preferred campus (Tampa, St. Petersburg, or Sarasota-Manatee) and term of entry (fall, spring, or summer). But picking a preference doesn’t guarantee that you’ll get what you want.
There are two main reasons a student might have their campus or term choice altered by the Office of Admissions:
Applying for early action gives you the best chance at receiving the campus and term assignments you want, but even that’s not guaranteed, for the same reasons.
It can be frustrating when you don’t get what you asked for, but a different assignment won’t lessen your USF experience. You can still celebrate the achievement with other admitted students around the world (#USFbound). You can still make lifelong friends and enjoy the best of student life on any campus. And you can still benefit from all the extraordinary resources of our university.
Frustration in the moment is understandable, but later on, you may look back and feel like this change was a blessing in disguise.
Check the USF website for a complete description of possible admissions decisions from our university.
For more information about the different types of admission available at USF and which may be right for you, contact the Office of Admissions by email at admissions@usf.edu or by phone at 813-974-3350. We’re here to help.
If you’re ready to begin your journey, apply to USF today!