Early decision vs early action, with real admit rates

The rounds in plain words

• Early decision (ED) is binding. If you're admitted, you withdraw your other applications and enroll. You can apply ED to only one college at a time.
• Early decision II (ED II) carries the same promise with a later deadline, usually early January. It suits students who didn't get in ED I somewhere else, or who decided late.
• Early action (EA) is non-binding. You get an early answer and still have until May 1 to choose. You can usually apply EA to as many colleges as you like.
• Restrictive or single-choice early action (REA or SCEA) is non-binding too, but you agree not to apply early to most other private colleges. Each college's rules differ, so read them.

What ED does to your odds, in real numbers

We took the early decision numbers each college reports in its own Common Data Set and compared them with the college's overall admit rate. Across 97 colleges, mostly for students who entered in fall 2025:

• At the median college, ED applicants were admitted at 1.5 times the overall rate.
• At 31 colleges, the ED rate was at least double.
• At 17 colleges, the ED rate was lower than the overall rate.

The biggest gaps: Northeastern admitted 35.3% of ED applicants against 5.6% overall. Tulane: 58.2% against 14.5%. Dartmouth: 21.6% against 6.0%. Barnard: 33.1% against 10.1%. Williams: 26.6% against 8.6%.

Where ED didn't help: Whitman admitted 21.0% in ED against 40.2% overall, and Bennington 17.3% against 37.2%. Case Western, Brandeis and Spelman also admitted a smaller share in ED.

Read these gaps with care. ED pools are full of recruited athletes and legacies, and colleges admit them early, which pushes the ED rate up. Your own bump, as a typical applicant, is smaller than the raw gap, and no public report says by how much. The full table is in early decision acceptance rates at 97 colleges.

What about early action rates?

The Common Data Set asks colleges for early decision counts but not early action counts, so we can't give you a matching EA rate from the same source. Some colleges announce early action numbers in December. Treat those as the college's own headline figures.

Who offers what for fall 2027

We checked each college's own deadlines page for fall 2027 entry on 5 November 2026.

Restrictive or single-choice early action, November 1: Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Caltech, Notre Dame and Georgetown. Princeton lists single-choice early action on November 1, but its page didn't tie the date to this cycle; confirm on the college's site.

Both ED and EA, so you choose how much to commit: UChicago, Northeastern, WashU, USC (its ED round is new this year), Michigan, UVA, Tulane, Villanova, Richmond, Colorado College, Babson, Macalester, Miami, Wake Forest (EA for first-generation students only), Reed, Spelman, Florida and Florida State.

Early action only, no ED: MIT, Georgia Tech, UNC-Chapel Hill, UT Austin, Virginia Tech, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Illinois, Wisconsin, Maryland, Minnesota, Indiana, Rutgers, Clemson, Auburn, Georgia, Tennessee, Iowa, CU Boulder, Oregon, Arizona, South Carolina, UMass Amherst, Michigan State, Kentucky and Stony Brook.

Early action still open after November 20

• Kentucky: EA deadline December 1, 2026. It's also the date for Lewis Honors College and scholarship consideration.
• Minnesota: EA II, December 1, 2026. Decision by February 28.
• Auburn: final EA round, December 1, 2026. It's also the merit scholarship deadline.

ED II deadlines for fall 2027 (checked)

If ED I didn't work out, or you weren't ready in November, ED II gives you a second binding round:

• Jan 1, 2027: Bryn Mawr, Emory, Macalester, Northeastern, NYU, Richmond, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest
• Jan 2: Johns Hopkins
• Jan 4: Babson, Boston College, Davidson, Hamilton, Middlebury, Rice, Swarthmore, Tufts, UChicago, WashU
• Jan 5: Boston University, Bowdoin, Grinnell, Harvey Mudd, Miami, University of San Diego, Washington and Lee, Wellesley
• Jan 6: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• Jan 8: Skidmore
• Jan 10: Bates, Bucknell, Claremont McKenna
• Jan 15: Chapman University, Colgate, Colorado College, Connecticut College, Denison, Holy Cross, Reed, Trinity College (CT), Tulane, University of Vermont, Villanova

That's 43 colleges. Northeastern's Oakland campus takes the same application on the same dates as Northeastern, so it isn't counted separately.

Haverford, Allegheny College, Carleton, DePauw University, Franklin & Marshall, George Washington University, Gettysburg College, Lafayette College, Lehigh, Pitzer, Rollins College, Smith, St Lawrence University, Stevens Institute of Technology, Syracuse University, Texas Christian University, The University of the South, Trinity University (TX), Vassar, Wesleyan and William & Mary also run second-round ED, but we couldn't confirm their dates for this cycle. Confirm on the college's site. The early decision II deadlines page shows the checked list with days left.

The Common Data Set lumps ED I and ED II together, so nobody outside the college can say how ED II odds compare with ED I.

Deferred in December? What to do after an early decision deferral covers ED II and the deadlines still open. For release dates, see when early decision results come out.

How to choose

Work through these before you pick a round:

1. Would you say yes today if this college admitted you? If you hesitate, don't apply ED. EA or regular decision keeps your options open.
2. Does the price work? Run the college's net price calculator with a parent before you apply ED. Once you're bound, you can't compare aid offers. If cost decides everything for your family, EA is the safer round.
3. Is your application ready? A rushed essay or a missing test score can hurt more than the early bump helps. If you need the fall to get stronger (a retake, a better essay, first-semester grades), ED II or regular decision may be the better shot.

A good mix for many students: one ED (or ED II) at a real first choice, EA at every college that offers it, and the rest regular decision.

The planner puts each college in reach, target or likely using its own numbers, including the ED bump where the college reports one, and shows which round each college offers. It's free, there's no account, and your profile stays in your browser. Check testing rules while you're at it: which colleges require the SAT or ACT for fall 2027.