Most students apply to schools via “Regular Decision.” These deadlines are usually January 1–5 of the year of acceptance. But some more selective schools allow you to apply early. As you can see in my previous post, the acceptance rate is always going to be higher if you apply early. You’re signaling not only your commitment to a school but also your preparedness for college.
However, not all early applications are the same. There are three core options: Early Action, Restricted Early Action, and Early Decision.
Early Action
You can apply to multiple schools through Early Action. There are no restrictions—the only challenge is being ready to apply early. You will receive notice of whether you’ve been admitted before the end of the year, and you don’t have to accept the offer until after Regular Decisions are released (usually May 1).
If you’re a top scholar, you should apply Early Action to: MIT (#1), Michigan (#16), USC (#23), UNC (#25), UIUC (#27), Wisconsin (#28), Georgia Tech (#29), and Georgetown (#30).
Other Top 50 state schools like Texas, Minnesota, Maryland, Purdue, Ohio State, Texas A&M, Michigan State, and Rutgers also offer Early Action.
The University of California schools require applications by November 30, which may feel like Early Action compared to most other universities.
Restricted Early Action
Harvard (#2), Stanford (#3), Princeton (#4), Yale (#5), and Caltech (#8) offer Restricted Early Action or “Single-Choice Early Action.”
The key point with Restricted Early Action (REA) schools is that decisions are still non-binding. However, you are severely restricted. You can apply early to public and international schools, but not to other private institutions.
Therefore, you can apply early to one of these five schools and to public universities (like UMich, UNC, UIUC, Wisconsin, and Georgia Tech) without having to commit if accepted.
Early Decision (I & II)
This is what most people think of when they hear about someone applying early to a school. Early Decision (ED) is binding. You are committing to enroll if you are accepted.
UPenn (#6), Columbia (#7), Cornell (#9), Johns Hopkins* (#10), University of Chicago* (#11), Northwestern (#12), Duke (#14), Brown (#17), Vanderbilt* (#18), WashU* (#19), Dartmouth (#21), Carnegie Mellon* (#22), and NYU* (#26) all offer Early Decision options.
*Offer Early Decision I & II
Schools that offer Early Decision I & II give you two chances to apply early. However, the second deadline is typically the same as the regular decision deadline, meaning you don’t gain much of an admissions advantage—just the opportunity to show your continued commitment.
What It Means
If you are a high achiever and want to apply to as many schools as possible early, you could apply to as many public schools as you want: Michigan, UNC, UIUC, Wisconsin, etc.
You could then also apply early to MIT, USC, and Georgetown, but wait for the regular decision period to apply to any other private universities.
If you REA or ED to any private university, then you cannot also apply early to MIT, USC, and Georgetown.
So, you basically have two options for early admission applications:
- Harvard (or your top choice), Michigan, UNC, UIUC, and Wisconsin
- MIT, USC, Georgetown, Michigan, UNC, UIUC, and Wisconsin
Option two I would assume is the best choice for most students unless you have legacy or special circumstances for your top choice.
