<p>Early Decision/Early Action and Regular Decision are different rounds of applications. Ignore the information from CollegeBoard for now, as it doesn’t talk about specifics.</p>
<p>Look here for an example: [Office</a> of Undergraduate Admissions: Early Action](<a href=“http://www.admissions.umich.edu/prospective/applying/earlyresponse.php]Office”>http://www.admissions.umich.edu/prospective/applying/earlyresponse.php) UMichigan is saying that if you apply before November 1st and you indicate on your application that you want to be considered for the Early Action round, you can get a decision by late December.</p>
<p>You can apply after that date, or you can indicate that you want to be considered for the Regular Decision round EVEN if you “technically” send your application before the “Early” date. As long as you meet the Feb 1st deadline, you’re good.</p>
<p>If you decide to go for Regular Decision, you will get your admission decision sometime in Mid-April.</p>