Early Decision vs. Early Action

Do you need to learn the difference between applying Early Decision vs. applying Early Action? If so, don’t be embarrassed, as you’re not alone. Many parents and students alike use the terms interchangeably. So, today, let’s examine which schools have Early Decision policies, which have Early Action policies, which schools have both, and what it all means for students applying to America’s elite colleges.

What is Early Decision?

Early Decision is a binding policy under which applicants commit to attending the school if offered admission. Students who apply Early Decision submit their applications typically by November 1st of their senior year in high school. For all colleges that offer Early Decision policies, applicants are only allowed to make a binding commitment to a single school.

However, students who apply Early Decision to one school may also apply Early Action to any public university. And for most colleges, students can also apply Early Action to private universities which have explicit non-restrictive policies.

As an example, Early Decision applicants to Columbia University are allowed to apply Early Action to the University of Michigan, the University of Virginia, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and other public universities (they can also apply to the University of California schools by November 30). Additionally, they can apply to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Chicago, both of which are private schools with non-restrictive Early Action policies.

Students receive their Early Decision notifications typically in mid-December. Students are either accepted, deferred, or denied. If the student is deferred in the Early Decision round, their application rolls into the Regular Decision applicant pool. If admitted through Regular Decision, usually in late March or early April, the student is no longer bound to attend. If the student is denied admission in the Early Decision round, their application will receive no further review.

Early Decision II

Early Decision II applicants apply around January 1 through mid-January, depending on the individual school’s ED II deadline, of their senior year of high school in conjunction with applying Regular Decision to other universities. When a student applies Early Decision II, they’re making a binding commitment to attend that school if offered admission.

What is Early Action?

Early Action is a non-binding policy under which which students submit their applications typically by November 1st of their senior year of high school. Students can apply to multiple schools Early Action, but the combination of schools they choose must be within the rules for each respective institution. Students who earn admission through Early Action, unlike through Early Decision, have until May 1 to decide which school they wish to attend. If a student does not earn admission in the Early Action round, their admission will either be deferred to the Regular Decision pool or denied.

Non-Restrictive Early Action

But not all Early Action policies are the same. Some universities offer Non-Restrictive Early Action policies, like the University of Chicago. Students applying Early Action to UChicago can also apply to a school under its binding Early Decision policy, like Dartmouth College. Of course, if they get into both their Early Decision and their Early Action school(s), they’re bound to matriculate to their Early Decision school.

Restrictive Early Action

Alternatively, there are universities that offer Restrictive Early Action policies, like the University of Notre Dame and Georgetown University. Under Georgetown’s Early Action policy, for instance, Early Action applicants are allowed to apply to any other university — either through Early Action or Regular Decision — but they are forbidden from applying to a school under a binding Early Decision policy. As an example, an Early Action applicant to Georgetown cannot also apply Early Decision to the University of Pennsylvania.

Single Choice Early Action

While Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Stanford all boast Restrictive Early Action policies, their policies are actually more restrictive than most — meriting their own category within Restrictive Early Action. These schools offer Single Choice Early Action. A Harvard Early Action applicant cannot also submit an Early Action application to Yale, Stanford, Princeton, UChicago, MIT, or Caltech (as but a few examples). A Harvard Early Action applicant cannot also submit an Early Decision application. In fact, the only Early Action applications that Early Action candidates to either Harvard, Yale, Princeton, or Stanford can submit are to public universities.

Colleges with Early Decision Policies

Among the national universities ranked in the top 50 by US News & World Report in its 2023 college ranking, the following schools offer Early Decision policies:

Among the liberal arts colleges ranked in the top 25 by US News & World Report in its 2023 college ranking, the following schools offer Early Decision policies:

Colleges with Early Decision II Policies

The following schools offer Early Decision II options. Schools denoted with an asterisk are ranked in the top 50 among national universities by US News & World Report in their 2023 ranking. Schools denoted with a hashtag are ranked in the top 25 among liberal arts colleges by US News & World Report in the 2023 ranking:

Colleges with Non-Restrictive Early Action Policies

Among the national universities ranked in the top 50 by US News & World Report in its 2023 college ranking, the following schools offer Non-Restrictive Early Action policies:

Colleges with Restrictive Early Action Policies

Among the national universities ranked in the top 50 or the liberal arts colleges ranked in the top 25 by US News & World Report in its 2023 college ranking, the following schools offer Non-Restrictive Early Action policies.

Colleges with Single Choice Early Action Policies

Among the national universities ranked in the top 50 by US News & World Report in its 2023 college ranking, the following schools offer a specific form of a Restrictive Early Action policy: Single Choice Early Action.

Benefits to Applying Early Decision or Early Action

Increased Odds of Admission

For most highly selective universities, one’s odds of getting in are significantly stronger during the school’s respective Early Decision or Early Action round of admissions. The admissions data for the Ivy League schools historically bears out this trend with Early Action or Early Decision admission rates significantly higher than the overall admission rates. As an example, for the Dartmouth Class of 2026, 20.1% of Early Decision applicants earned admission compared to 6.24% of overall applicants.

In short, these students show their love to the school and the school so often shows that love back to them. After all, colleges care deeply about their yields and since a significantly lower percentage of Regular Decision admits matriculate, this is a way of supercharging their yields. It’s why elite colleges so often fill over half of their seats with Early admits.

Earlier Admissions Decision

Students who apply Early typically learn of their decisions in mid-December. So while their peers who chose not to apply Early or whose admission was deferred or denied in the Early round of admissions have to typically wait for a little over three more months to learn their fates, Early admits can relax.

Debunking Myths of Applying Early Decision or Early Action

If a Student Doesn’t Have a Clear Top Choice

Some people dissuade students from applying Early because they don’t want students to have to commit to attending a college so early on in the process. But that’s nonsense. At the end of the day, a student is going to have to select one school to attend. So why not select that school earlier on in the process when the odds are more in their favor? This way, they can often earn admission to their biggest reach school. And, besides, Early Action, unlike Early Decision, isn’t even binding.

Weighing Financial Aid Offers

So many students are told one of the big negatives about applying Early is that students will be unable to weigh competing financial aid offers. But every college is federally mandated to have a Net Price Calculator on their websites. Applicants can discern the precise financial aid they should expect to be awarded before applying. Thus, an applicant faces no financial disincentive from applying Early.

Early Decision vs. Early Action FAQs

Can I get out of my Early Decision commitment?

It is a binding commitment. You’re signing your name on a document. That said, every Early Decision policy contains a stipulation that if your family’s financial circumstances should change dramatically such that the college can no longer meet your financial need, you can make the rare move to renege on your commitment.

Should I apply to the biggest reach possible in the Early round?

Many students never want to wonder throughout the rest of their lives if they could have earned admission to a school and thus they apply Early Decision or Early Action to an impossible reach. It’s a bad move, because by applying to their impossible dream they not only won’t get into that school but they won’t get into the reach school they potentially could have gotten into had they earmarked that school for their Early card.

Ivy Coach’s Assistance with Early Decision and Early Action Applications

Need help with your Early Decision or Early Action applications? Reach out to Ivy Coach today for a free college admissions consultation to learn about our services.