If you're in the hunt for merit scholarships, be sure to stay on top of explicit deadlines a school on your list might have.
In some cases, like Boston University and the University of Richmond, it's a hard deadline that you have to meet in order for you to be considered at all. In others, like Indiana University and many other public institutions, it's a "priority" deadline that maximizes your chances of merit aid before the money runs out. Either way, merit aid continues to be an excellent way for good students to defray the cost of an education.
We've compiled a list of schools in our coverage universe with explicit deadlines, along with some stats to help you gauge the size and breadth of the institution's merit offerings. We've also included links to each school's scholarship page for easy access to the details.
Most of these schools automatically consider you for merit scholarships without the need for an additional application.
Click on Continue Reading below for the list.
Brown accepted 669 applicants to the Class of 2020 under early decision. 
The University of Georgia offered 7,500 high schools students early admission. A record 14,516 early action applications were received this year, up nearly 10 percent from the last year.
It's official—the University of California Board of Regents approved a budget plan to enroll an additional 10,000 California undergraduates over the next three years, including 5,000 freshman and transfer students for the Fall of 2016. 
Yale announced today that the number of Single Choice Early Action applications remained stable for the Class of 2020. Applications totaled 4,662 for the Class of 2020, compared to 4,693 for the previous year. 
Here's an interesting video from Steve Lemanger, a former admissions director at Princeton University, on the mistakes that applicants make. The big takeaway is that much of your application has already been set with your grades, test scores and recommendations.
Here's the Wall Street Journal's take on the University of California and the shift at many of its campuses to greater foreign and out-of-state enrollment. According to the article, the UC system accepted 62% of in-state applicants in the 2014 school year compared to 84% four years earlier.
Northwestern received 3,022 early decision applications as of the November 1st deadline, an increase of approximately 12 percent from the previous year. According to Michael Mills, the associate provost for university enrollment, the acceptance rate for early decision candidates is likely to be similar to last year. Mills also expects early decision admits to make up 45-50 percent of the incoming freshman class.
Princeton announced that it received 4,164 single-choice early action applications as of November 11. This represents a 9.4 percent increase from last year, and is attributable to both increased outreach and the removal of the SAT subject test requirement this year.
The University of Pennsylvania reported a slight rise in Early Decision applicants for the Class of 2020. A total of 5,629 early decision applications were received this year, up 140 from last year.
The shift to test-optional admission continues to build. This article from the New York Times highlights several reasons for the shift and reviews the results from several studies, often conflicting, on its impact. Some suggestions for when to consider applying test optional are also made.
With the University of California application now open for submissions, it's time to make sure everything is in order. 
Still looking for ideas on how to write a compelling admissions essay? Then check out our latest set of essays that worked, courtesy of Tufts admissions.