Guides · After you apply
When do regular decision results come out for fall 2027?
The short answer
Most selective colleges release regular decision results between mid-March and April 1, and give admitted students until May 1 to reply. Johns Hopkins has posted March 24, 2027. The Ivy League hasn't announced its 2027 date yet; last spring all eight released on March 26.
Most colleges post a window, such as "late March", and announce the exact day and time shortly before: Penn at least a week ahead, Stanford a few days ahead on its website. Some big public universities answer much sooner: UT Austin by February 15. Of the 106 colleges whose Common Data Set gives a spring date for regular decision results, 104 say they send them by April 1.
On this page
Regular decision release dates by college
Each date is the one on the college's own admissions page, read on 10 November 2026. Most pages print no year, so they describe a typical cycle; where a page names fall 2027 or 2027, the table says so. Watch your email and applicant portal for the exact day.
| College | Results come out | Reply by |
|---|---|---|
| UT Austin | No later than February 15, 2027 | May 1 |
| MIT | Mid-March (March 14 last year) | May 1 |
| Caltech | Mid-March | May 1, 2027 |
| Georgia Tech | Mid-March (2026-27 dates) | May 1 |
| University of California, all campuses | March 1 to 31 (fall 2027) | May 1 |
| UCLA | Late March (fall 2027) | May 1 |
| Johns Hopkins | March 24, 2027 | May 1, 2027 |
| Vanderbilt | Late March 2027 | May 1, 2027 |
| Northwestern | March 2027 (late March) | May 1 |
| Duke | Late March or early April (2026-27 cycle) | May 1 |
| Harvard | By the end of March | Early May (another line says May 1) |
| Yale | Late March | May 1 |
| Princeton | Late March | May 1 |
| Columbia | Late March (its FAQ says on or before April 15), with financial aid decisions | May 1 |
| Cornell | Late March (a Cornell FAQ says early April) | May 1 |
| Brown | Late March (another Brown page says by early April) | May 1 |
| Dartmouth | Late March or early April | May 1 |
| Penn | April (another Penn page says late March) | May 1 |
| UChicago | Late March | May 1 |
| Notre Dame | Mid- to late March | May 1 |
| Amherst | By late March | May 1, 2027 |
| Wisconsin | On or before March 31 | May 1 |
| UNC-Chapel Hill | March 31 | May 1 |
| Boston University | Late March to early April | May 1 |
| Rice | By April 1 | May 1 |
| Georgetown | By April 1 | May 1 |
| Emory | By April 1 | May 1 |
| Tufts | By April 1 | May 1 |
| NYU | April 1 | May 1 |
| Northeastern | By April 1 | May 1 |
| USC | By April 1 | May 1 |
| Carnegie Mellon | No later than April 1 | May 1 |
| Williams | April 1 | May 1 |
| Michigan | By April 2 | May 1 |
| Stanford | By early April | May 1 |
A few colleges give different windows on different pages, and the table notes the main ones. Where a college gives two reply dates, as Harvard does, go by your admission letter.
When is Ivy Day 2027?
Not announced yet. Ivy Day is the evening all eight Ivy League colleges release regular decision results at the same time. On 10 November 2026, none of the eight had posted a 2027 date. Their pages give windows instead: Harvard "by the end of March", Yale, Princeton, Columbia and Cornell "late March", Brown "late March" or "by early April", Dartmouth "late March or early April", and Penn "in April".
Last spring it was Thursday, March 26, 2026. The Cornell Chronicle called March 26 "the official notification date for the Ivy League", and Brown wrote that applicants "began logging on to a secure website at 7 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday, March 26". Expect a date in the last week or so of March 2027, and expect each college to email the exact day and time shortly before.
MIT and Caltech, which aren't in the Ivy League, release earlier, in mid-March. MIT posted last year's results on March 14, 2026, Pi Day; this year its page says only "mid-March".
Big public universities often answer sooner
Many state flagships have earlier deadlines, or read applications in rounds, so their results come before the private colleges'. UT Austin: "If you complete your application by the regular deadline (December 1), you will be notified of a decision no later than February 15, 2027." The University of California says each campus "generally will notify you whether you have been admitted between March 1–31" for fall 2027. Georgia Tech says mid-March, Wisconsin on or before March 31 and UNC-Chapel Hill March 31.
If a public university admitted you through early action, which isn't binding, you can usually wait until May 1 to commit, so you can compare it with every regular decision result and aid offer. Wisconsin, for one, says so. Early decision is binding wherever you apply.
What colleges report in their Common Data Set
Each college's Common Data Set, a standard report most colleges publish every year, has a line for the date regular decision results are sent. 133 colleges in our dataset fill it in. 106 of them give a date between February 1 and April 30; the other 27 give a date outside spring, most often the day rolling decisions start. Of those 106, 104 say they send results by April 1, 40 give a date in March, and 55 give April 1 itself.
| Results sent by | Colleges |
|---|---|
| April 1 | 55 |
| March 15 | 13 |
| March 31 | 10 |
| February 1 | 5 |
| March 1 | 5 |
| February 15 | 3 |
97 of the 106 dates are from the 2025-26 Common Data Set, which describes last year's cycle. Colleges usually keep the same date from year to year, but check this year's page.
What to do before results come out
- Log in to every applicant portal now and write down the password. Most colleges post the decision there, often in the evening, and email you to look.
- Check that each college has everything it asked for, including your midyear report and any financial aid forms. A missing aid form can delay your aid offer, which often comes with the decision.
- Plan for three answers: admitted, waitlisted or denied. If you're waitlisted, see what to do on a waitlist.
- Once offers arrive, compare what each college will cost your family, not its sticker price: how to compare aid offers.
- Mark May 1. That's the reply date at almost every college in the table, and decision day has what to do before it.
The May 1 date comes from the college admissions counselors' association, NACAC. Its Guide to Ethical Practice says "Colleges should use the widely recognized date of May 1 as the earliest enrollment confirmation deadline", so you can hear from every college before you commit. Binding early decision is the exception.
Still applying? Some deadlines run past January: see the deadlines list, and keep your colleges on one list in the planner.
Questions
When do regular decision results come out?
When is Ivy Day 2027?
What time do college decisions come out?
When do I have to reply to a regular decision offer?
Do financial aid offers come with the admission decision?
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