One of the ways you can apply to Providence College is through our Early Action program.  Typically, the students who choose to apply to Providence College by the November 1 deadline are those students who feel that Providence College is one of their top choices, and who feel that they can present the best and most complete application possible before the end of the first semester of their senior year.  Students who apply Early Action will be notified of their admission decision by early January, and, if invited, preliminary merit scholarship offers and need-based financial awards will follow in mid-January. 

It is possible to have three admission outcomes as an Early Action applicant: Invite, Defer, or Deny.  If an applicant is invited, the student is offered admission for the upcoming Fall term contingent upon successful completion of senior year.  The Early Action program at Providence College is non-binding, meaning the candidate will have until May 1 to choose to enroll at Providence College; there is no commitment required earlier in the process. 

It is possible that students can be denied in the Early Action review process. Based on the volume of applications we receive, the Committee on Admission will at times make these difficult decisions in our Early Action review. Typically this will occur when the Committee feels that the student is not competitive in the overall context of the applicant pool and the student's specific record is not likely to change significantly with new information from the student (such as senior year grades).  A deny decision at the Early Action stage is a final decision; the student will not be reviewed again in the Regular Decision process. Applicants to the college that might be concerned about their credentials to gain admission are encouraged to apply through the Regular Decision program, where the Committee on Admission will be sure to have your most complete high school record including senior grades to help us review your application more fully.

Lastly, a select group of students each year will be deferred by the Committee to the Regular Decision applicant pool.  The Committee on Admission will re-examine these students in the context of the entire applicant pool with the students' mid-year grades and any other new information submitted that may aid in our review.  Generally, a deferral means that we see a student's potential to be a good match to Providence College, but in a competitive admission process we want to have the most up-to-date academic information and review the student in relation to the remainder of the applicants in our more comprehensive review process in late winter before we make our final decision. 

The standards used for the admission review, the Liberal Arts Honors Program/merit scholarship review, and the need-based financial aid review are the same for both the Early Action and Regular Decision groups.  There is no competitive advantage to applying early or waiting for the Regular deadline.  Most importantly, when considering Early Action, the Committee on Admission wants you to make the choice that is best for you in your overall college search. 

If you have additional questions about the different application deadlines, contact our office at 401-865-2535 or toll free 800-721-6444 to speak with your admission counselor.