The college process has started with application deadlines, the FAFSA, and Virginia College Application Week in full effect. Applicants need to know the colleges that have free application fees, their application deadlines, and information regarding the free application for federal student aid. 

Every college has three to four application deadlines: early decision, early action, and regular decision some colleges also offer rolling admissions. Information to consider for each application deadline type is that the early decision is binding. 

Binding means if the applicant is accepted to that specific college, enrolling and attending that college is mandatory, and can not accept any other college offers. Early decision is discouraged because things such as early action and regular decision are advised for deadlines. 

Early action means students apply earlier, but the decision is not binding, and students tend to hear back quicker than a regular decision. Students are also considered for admission before other applicants who make regular decisions.

 Regular decision is when students apply at normal deadline times and hear back in the spring of the following year. 

Certain colleges offer rolling admissions which means when applicants submit their application, they review it and send a letter if accepted within two to three weeks after submission. Below are all the application deadlines for Virginia colleges: 

There are also private schools to consider when applying to college. Virginia offers over 20 Private colleges. Private colleges tend to be more expensive on their “sticker price” but, offer more grants and scholarships than public universities. This gives you the chance to bring down that expensive sticker price. 

Here is the list of all private colleges available in instate: 

Next piece of information that is needed for college is the FAFSA (free application for federal student aid). It is required by the state of Virginia that students file their FAFSA every year they are in college and before they even apply. The FAFSA does is provide families with financial support in college based on their financial status. FAFSA varies per school, but applicants should submit their FAFSA as soon as they can. FAFSA is on a first come first serve basis. If more information regarding the FAFSA is needed, visit the college advisor Ms.A. Juniors and seniors, sign up for the Google Classroom provided by Ms.A. She posts daily information regarding everything in college.

In Virginia, they offer a program called Virginia College Application Week (VCAW). This is a week in October when certain colleges offer codes for fee waivers to apply to their school. College application fees can rack up quickly, so take advantage of these codes provided by Ms. A for free college applications. The week in October is valid from the 24th through the 28th. 

Here is the list of colleges offering fee waivers for VCAW: 

1.  Christopher Newport University
2. East Tennessee State University
3. Longwood University
4. Norfolk State University
5. University of Lynchburg
6. University of Mary Washington 
7. University of Virginia 
8. Virginia Tech 
9. West Virginia University
10. George Mason University
11. Virginia Military University
12. Washington and Lee University
13. ECPI 

If students are in need of any more information regarding college and the process of applying, contact Ms. A and set up an appointment.