Whether you’ve got a dream school in mind or you want to get the stressful college application process out of the way as soon as possible, applying in the early action and early decision 2025-2026 rounds are great options for students who feel confident with their application components and are willing to commit to a school.[1] The difference between early action and early decision lies in the nature of the commitment. When you apply early decision, you sign a binding agreement—you are committing to the school if you are accepted. Early action, by contrast, is non-binding. If you’re not ready to sign on the dotted line during the November deadline, a lot of schools—particularly liberal arts colleges—offer a second early decision round in January.
It’ll probably come as no surprise to you that every school has different policies for early applications. Not all colleges and universities offer early action; some have two early decision options, and some offer no early application option at all. To guide you through the rules at the top schools, I’ve outlined the early action and early decision 2025-2026 policies at the top 50 national universities and liberal colleges with their deadlines, as well as the trends across different schools and how much of a difference applying early can make to your college application.
Table Key
- Early Action (EA): Nonbinding admissions process for students to apply to college earlier than the regular deadline, usually in November of senior year. Students receive admissions notifications in December; if accepted, they are not required to commit.
- Early Decision I (ED I): A Binding admissions process for students to apply to college earlier than the regular deadline, usually in November of senior year. Students receive admissions notifications in December, and if accepted, are required to commit.
- Early Decision II (ED II): A Binding admissions process for students to apply to college closer to the regular deadline in January. Students receive admissions notifications in mid-February, and if accepted, are required to commit.
- Restrictive Early Action (REA) or Single-Choice Early Action: Different schools refer to this policy by different names. REA/single-choice early action is a process more stringent than early action but less committal than early decision. Students can apply only to their single-choice EA institution in the early round, with exceptions such as nonbinding applications to public or foreign universities. Students apply in November and are notified in December with no obligation to commit if accepted.
- Regular Decision: The Vast majority of students apply through regular decision, usually in January, and are notified in late March or early April. Students have no obligation to commit if accepted.
Now that you’ve familiarized yourself with the terms, let’s look at the early application policies at the top schools around the country.
Early Action and Early Decision Policies for the Top 50 National Universities
| School | Early Action and Early Decision Policies for the Top 50 National Universities |
|---|---|
| Princeton University | Single-choice early action or restrictive early action due November 1; Okay to apply early to any public institution, service academy, international institution, or college with nonbinding rolling admissions at the same time |
| Columbia University | Early decision due November 1 |
| Harvard University | Restrictive early action due November 1; Okay to apply to public universities and foreign universities with no binding option at the same time |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Early action due November 1 |
| Yale University | Single-choice early action due November 1; May apply to other schools with nonbinding rolling admissions programs or apply ED II to colleges if admission notification comes after January 1 |
| Stanford University | Restrictive early action due November 1; Okay to apply early to any public institution, service academy, international institution, college with nonbinding rolling admission, or college with early deadlines for scholarship as long as it is nonbinding |
| University of Chicago | Early decision due November 1; Early action due November 1; Early decision II due January 2 |
| University of Pennsylvania | Early decision due November 1 |
| California Institute of Technology | Early action due November 1 |
| Johns Hopkins University | Early decision due November 1 Early decision II due January 3 |
| Duke University | Early decision due November 1 |
| Northwestern University | Early decision due November 1 |
| Dartmouth College | Early decision due November 1 |
| Brown University | Early decision due November 1 |
| Vanderbilt University | Early decision due November 1 |
| Washington University in St. Louis | Early decision due November 1 |
| Cornell University | Early decision due November 1 |
| Rice University | Early decision due November 1 |
| University of Notre Dame | Restrictive early action due November 1; Okay to apply to other nonbinding EA programs |
| University of California – Los Angeles | No early application option; All UC applications are due November 30 |
| Emory University | Early decision I due November 1; Early decision II due January 1 |
| University of California – Berkeley | No early application option; All UC applications are due November 30 |
| Georgetown University | Early action due November 1; Students applying EA are not allowed to apply to any Early Decision program |
| University of Michigan – Ann Arbor | Early action due November 1 |
| Carnegie Mellon University | Early decision due November 1; Early admission for high school juniors who have met the course requirements for each CMU school, due January 1 |
| University of Virginia | Early action due November 1; Early decision due October 15 |
| University of Southern California | Early action due November 1; Regular decision applications due January 15 |
| New York University | Early decision I due November 1 Early decision II due January 1 |
| University of California – Santa Barbara | No early application option; All UC applications are due November 30 |
| Tufts University | Early decision I due November 1; Early decision II due January 1 |
| University of Florida | No EA or ED program; Applications due November 1; Applications after November 2 considered on a space-availability basis until March 1 |
| University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill | Early action due October 15 |
| Wake Forest University | Early decision I due November 15; Early decision II due January 1 |
| University of Rochester | Early decision due November 1 |
| Boston College | Early decision I due November 1; Early decision II due January 1 |
| University of California – Irvine | No early application option; All UC applications are due November 30 |
| Georgia Institute of Technology | Early action due October 15 |
| William & Mary | Early decision I due November 1; Early decision II due January 1 |
| Boston University | Early decision I due November 1; Early decision II due January 6 |
| Brandeis University | Early decision I due November 1; Early decision II due January 1 |
| Case Western Reserve University | Early action due November 1; Early decision I due November 1; Early decision II due January 15 |
| Tulane University | Early action due November 15; Early decision I due November 1; Early decision II due January 7 |
| University of Wisconsin – Madison | Early action due November 1 |
| University of Illinois – Urbana Champaign | Early action due November 1 |
| University of Georgia | Early action due October 15 |
| Lehigh University | Early decision I due November 1; Early decision II due January 1 |
| Northeastern University | Early decision I due November 1; Early action due November 1 Early decision II due January 1 |
| Ohio State University | Early action due November 1 |
| Pepperdine University | Early action due November 1 |
| Purdue University | Early action due November1 |
| Villanova University | Early action due November 1; Early decision due November 1 |
Early Action and Early Decision Policies for the Top 50 Liberal Arts Colleges
| School | Early Action/Early Action Policy |
|---|---|
| Williams College | Early decision due November 15 |
| Amherst College | Early decision due November 1 |
| Swarthmore College | Early decision due November 15 |
| Pomona College | Early decision I due November 1; Early decision II due January 1 |
| Wellesley College | Early decision I due November 1 Early decision II due January 1 |
| Bowdoin College | Early decision I due November 15; Early decision II due January 1 |
| United States Naval Academy | No ED or EA option; Applications due January 31 |
| Claremont McKenna | Early decision I due November 1; Early decision II due January 5 |
| Carleton College | Early decision I due November 15; Early decision II due January 15 |
| Hamilton College | Early decision I due November 15; Early decision II due January 1 |
| Middlebury College | Early decision I due November 1; Early decision II due January 1 |
| United States Military Academy (West Point) | No ED or EA option; Applications due Feb 28 |
| Washington and Lee University | Early decision I due December 1; Early decision II due January 15 |
| Grinnell College | Early decision I due November 15; Early decision II due January 1 |
| Vassar College | Early decision I due November 15; Early decision II due January 1 |
| Colby College | Early decision I due November 15; Early decision II due January 1 |
| Davidson College | Early decision I due November 15; Early decision II due January 2 |
| Haverford College | Early decision I due November 15; Early decision II due January 1 |
| Smith College | Early decision I due November 15; Early decision II due January 1 |
| Colgate University | Early decision I due November 15; Early decision II due January 15 |
| Wesleyan University | Early decision I due November 15; Early decision II due January 1 |
| United States Air Force Academy | No ED or EA option; Applications due December 31 |
| Barnard College | Early decision I due November 1 |
| Bates College | Early decision I due November 15; Early decision II due January 1 |
| University of Richmond | Early decision due November 1 Early decision II due November 1 |
| Colorado College | Early action due November 10; Early decision due November 10; Early decision II due January 15 |
| Harvey Mudd College | Early decision I due November 15; Early decision II due January 5 |
| Macalester College | Early decision I due November 15; Early decision II due January 1 |
| Bryn Mawr College | Early decision I due November 15; Early decision II due January 1 |
| Kenyon College | Mid-DecemberEarly decision I due November 15; Early decision II due January 15 |
| Scripps College | Early decision I due November 15; Early decision II due January 3 |
| Soka University of America | Early action due November 1 |
| Berea College | Early action I due November 15; Early action II due January 31 |
| Bucknell University | Early decision I due November 15; Early decision II due January 15 |
| Mount Holyoke College | Early decision I due November 15; Early decision II due January 1 |
| College of the Holy Cross | Rolling early decision open August 1, I due December 15 |
| Oberlin College | Early decision I due November 15; Early decision II due January 2 |
| Pitzer College | Early decision I due November 15; Early decision II due January 1 |
| Skidmore College | Early decision I due November 15; Early decision II due January 15 |
| Lafayette College | Early decision I due November 15; Early decision II due January 15 |
| Occidental College | Early decision I due November 15; Early decision II due January 1 |
| Thomas Aquinas College | No ED or EA option; Rolling admissions open for any student who has completed junior year, students accepted on a space-availability basis |
| Franklin and Marshall College | Early decision I due November 15; Early decision II due January 15 |
| Denison University | Early decision I due November 15; Early decision II due January 15 |
| Trinity College | Early decision I due November 15; Early decision II due January 1 |
| Union College | Early decision I due November 15; Early decision II due January 15 |
| DePauw University | Early decision I due November 15; Early action due December 1; Early decision due January 15 |
| Furman College | Early decision I due November 15; Early action due December 1; Early decision due January 15 |
| Sewanee – the University of the South | Early decision I due November 15; Early action due December 1; Early decision II due January 15 |
| Connecticut College | Early decision I due November 15; Early decision II due January 1 |
Trends Across Schools
Most of the schools on both lists offer early action and early decision options for 2025-2026. The University of California schools do not have early admission rounds, but their regular application deadline is November 30, earlier than most schools’ regular decision dates. Princeton, Harvard, Yale, and Stanford offer restrictive early action, which despite not being binding, does not allow students to apply to other schools early—with a few exceptions.[2]
Another notable trend is that early action is used primarily by national universities, whereas early decision II is offered primarily by liberal arts colleges. UChicago, Johns Hopkins, Wash U, Boston College, Boston University, Emory, Brandeis, Case Western, RPI, and Northeastern are the top national universities that offer ED II. Sewanee, Centre, Colorado, Soka, and the University of Richmond are among the liberal arts colleges that offer early action options. This statistic is plausible because national universities are larger and receive many more applications. Because liberal arts schools have fewer spots, they are more interested in students who are fully committed and thus offer two binding early decision options.
Advantages of Early Admission 2022-2023
Since you’ll be going up against a smaller application pool no matter which school you apply to in the early round, you have a greater chance of admission into a college, even just statistically speaking.[3] Of course, you need to have excellent grades, test scores, extracurriculars, and essays to compete against the best students across the country.
Schools use early action and early admission numbers to estimate the yield of incoming classes. Because colleges know that early applicants are likely or formally bound to commit, they are more likely to be accepted. The early action and early decision 2025-2026 rates will be inflated by legacy students and recruited athletes. Keep in mind that the recruitment process for athletes is distinct, as they typically interact with coaches, who then relay information to admissions officers.
It’s clear that schools can admit a higher percentage of applicants in this round. But you shouldn’t just send a half-polished application in the hopes of an admissions boost. Most students who apply early typically have their act together. You will be competing against students who are confident in their grades, scores, and extracurricular activities. If you submit a mediocre application, you are unlikely to fare well. If you apply EA, and you’re a mediocre applicant, colleges won’t accept you, knowing that you’re a mediocre applicant, and they can’t count on you for yield. Sometimes for ED, even if it’s not in the best state, students rush to finish their application to their dream school to increase their chances and hope for a miracle. This strategy is not sound.
But, if you think your profile is solid, your application is ready to be sent, and you are 100% sure what your top choice is, why not apply ED? If there’s a liberal arts college you really want to go to but your application is not up to the mark in November, you can always apply ED II.
Applying in the early action and early decision 2025-2026 round will not only increase your chances of acceptance, but if you’re accepted, you don’t have to submit a regular decision application! Of course, you should continue working on RD applications until you hear back to prepare for all outcomes. But once you’ve been notified, you’ll have a giant responsibility lifted off your shoulders. Plus, you’ll be able to save time and money.
Disadvantages of Applying Early
Applying early decision isn’t an ideal option for everyone—it has its downsides. Since it’s binding, once you’re accepted, you won’t be able to explore other options or know whether other schools might make better financial aid offers. If you’re not 100% ready to commit both mentally and financially, don’t take the plunge! Moreover, you’ll need to have everything in order and ready to go 2 months earlier. If stronger second-quarter grades could benefit your profile or if you’re waiting to achieve something significant before January, hold back on early decision.
Although early action may seem more beneficial and appealing since you don’t have to fully commit, EA has its own disadvantages. For example, if you’re applying to a school that has both ED and EA, such as Colorado College or the University of Richmond, admissions officers are more likely to consider you more seriously if you apply ED. You might apply EA to keep your options open, which they could see as a sign that you are not likely to commit if you are accepted.
The idea of choosing a single college when there are so many options to explore can seem scary. But, with thorough research and an examination of majors and departments, student groups, and facilities offered by a campus, you might find a school that is the perfect fit for you early in your college search. If that’s the case, why wait until the regular decision? Review the early action and early decision 2025-2026 requirements and deadlines for your choice and begin preparing now. If you get college applications out of the way early, you can have a stress-free last semester of high school, and that is a win.