Staying Steady Yet Strategic Between Submission and Decision
Early December places you in a particular kind of tension: you are preparing January applications while also waiting for an early decision you cannot influence. It’s an unusual window — not because the workload changes, but because uncertainty sits just behind the work you are doing.
It is also the point in the cycle when many students, including those we see at Ivy Link, feel the most fatigue. November’s drafting pace, combined with the sudden shift into waiting, produces a form of cognitive exhaustion that is normal. Knowing this is shared — even by highly prepared students — often softens the pressure you put on yourself right now.
1. What this period actually represents — and why that matters for you
Your early file is being evaluated using materials already submitted. Admissions officers are reading fall grades, shaping early cohorts, and aligning institutional priorities. None of this requires additional action from you.
Internalizing this removes a source of unnecessary stress:
nothing is missing from your early application
no “extra step” is expected for it to be read accurately
The early round is active — but your role in it is complete. That clarity alone steadies most students.
2. Keeping the two timelines separate reduces pressure
Right now, you are moving along two tracks:
the early decisions timeline, which is fixed, and
the Regular Decision timeline, which still responds to your decisions every day.
When these blur together, uncertainty from the early round can undermine the confidence you bring to RD work. Separating them restores proportion:
one timeline is unknown but static
the other is known and entirely within your control
This distinction matters because it directs your attention back to the part of the process where your effort has impact.
3. How “transitory projects” help steady your focus
By early December, RD drafting continues, but at a more manageable pace than November. That steadier rhythm creates pockets of unstructured time — often the moments when worry grows.
A transitory project gives those moments structure. It is not extra work; it is a small, concrete step inside something already underway:
moving a research project forward
updating a portfolio piece
completing a leadership responsibility
preparing a submission for a competition or publication
These milestones calm the mind because they offer clear progress, daily orientation, and fewer mental loops about outcomes you cannot accelerate.
Chosen well, structure is not pressure — it is stability.
4. Academics function as your most reliable anchor
Selective colleges monitor fall grades, but this does not require reinvention. It simply means:
maintain the academic standard already in your file
avoid inconsistencies that suggest disengagement
allow your coursework to follow the trajectory you’ve already set
For many students, routine academic work becomes the most grounding part of this period because it is predictable when everything else feels uncertain.
5. Returning to your long-term direction keeps the process in perspective
This is often when students begin comparing themselves to peers or following speculation about early outcomes. A more productive approach is to return to your own direction:
What academic trajectory does your application reflect?
Which current commitments reinforce that direction?
What remains within your control between now and January?
Re-centering on your plan reduces the emotional noise around decision day and keeps your attention on the decisions that still matter.
6. Gratitude and connection as quiet stabilizers
Taking a moment to acknowledge the people who supported you — a teacher, mentor, advisor, or peer — shifts your focus from the decision to the continuity of your academic relationships.
It is grounding because it reminds you that admissions is one part of a longer arc. A brief thank-you or check-in does not change your file, but it often changes the way this period feels.
7. What early outcomes do — and do not — represent
When decisions arrive, they will fall into one of three outcomes:
Admitted — your evaluation is complete.
Deferred — your file moves into the Regular Decision round for a second review with new information, especially fall grades.
Denied — the file will not continue at that institution.
These outcomes reflect timing and institutional context. They are not final statements about your academic potential. What remains true for you regardless of outcome:
the work you complete in December and January strengthens your overall application portfolio
a deferral provides another evaluation window
strong RD preparation preserves meaningful options across your list
Students often feel calmer once they understand this clearly, because it replaces the “what if” loop with a realistic sense of how evaluation actually unfolds — and where your effort still matters.
If you want help interpreting early outcomes with precision, Ivy Link can guide you. Our advisors work with students to distinguish which actions strengthen a file — and which actions are unnecessary — so that the weeks between now and January feel structured and far less overwhelming.
