As if there weren’t enough variables in the college admissions proccess, students today have to pick their own timetable for applying to schools.

If you opt for regular admission, the deadline for an application is usually from December 15 to March 1 of your senior year of high school. You can apply to as many schools as you want, and most colleges will notify you of their decisions by April 1 (although financial aid decisions come a little later). You will generally have until May 1 to decide which school you want to attend.

But many students are now choosing to fast-track this process with one of two early admissions plans – either Early Decision or Early Action.

With an Early Decision plan, you apply to your top choice school on or before November 1, and receive your answer sometime around December 15. You can be accepted, rejected, or put into the pool of regular applicants for decision in the spring. Early Decision is a binding commitment – if you’re accepted to the school you have to enroll there and withdraw your applications from all other schools. The clear advantage of ED is that you may be spared months of senior year anxiety by knowing that you’re accepted early. Some people also believe that applying early gives you an admissions advantage, since a higher percentage of students are generally admitted from the pool of ED applicants. But this perceived advantage may be meaningless – schools tend to raise the bar on ED admissions standards because they get a stronger pool of applicants.

Either way, the binding nature of early decision is not something to take lightly; ED is not a great idea unless you have a passion to get into that one dream school and are ready to commit to it. Another drawback of ED is that financial aid packages tend to be weaker, and since you must attend if accepted, you have no leverage to negotiate a better deal and can’t comparison shop financial aid offers from other schools.

Some schools now offer ED II, which typically has application deadlines from December 1, to January 15 – notification usually comes about six weeks later.

A better option for many students is Early Action. This plan is offered by some very selective schools – it has similar application deadlines to ED, but is not binding. You can still apply to other schools through regular admissions and usually have until spring to make your decision. EA gives you the benefit of early notification without the iron-clad commitment of Early Decision. A variation of EA is Early Action Single Choice, which requires that you do not apply to any other school as an Early Action candidate, although you can still apply to other schools for regular admission.

Still another admission plan is rolling admissions, the plan of choice for most public and many private colleges. This is basically a first-come first-served option – you apply anytime during your senior year and a decision is made 4-6 weeks later. It is non-binding, you don’t have to wait months for an answer, and (if necessary) this gives you the chance to raise your first semester grades or re-take the SAT or ACT. The catch here is that the later you apply, the greater your chance of being rejected, because there are fewer slots to compete for. For these schools, it’s best to appy early – by February 1 – especially if you want a good financial aid package.

It’s a good idea to keep these plans in mind as you finalize your college choices. Make sure you’re clear on which schools offer which admission options, and make sure you’ve got the deadlines straight!