Looking for a way to enhance admission odds without obligating yourself to attend?  Here's a list of colleges with early action admission rates that are at least 50% higher than their regular decision admission rates.  

Unlike Early Decision, Early Action is non-binding, so it nearly always works to your advantage.  And as the list shows, this advantage can be meaningful if you're a competitive applicant...all for simply applying 45-60 days earlier than normal.  

With most early action deadlines occurring in early November, the time is now to take a closer look. 

Looking for a way to enhance admission odds? Here's a list of schools with early decision admission rates that are at least twice as high as their regular decision admission rates.  

Because Early Decision is a binding commitment, it only makes sense if you're a competitive applicant, affordability isn't an issue, and you're absolutely certain it's the school for you. But as the list shows, there can be a meaningful advantage in applying this way if you are.  For example, at Bucknell University, roughly 60% of the Class of 2025 was admitted through Early Decision, and the admission rate was 73% vs. 31% for those who applied via Regular Decision.  Or at Bates College in Maine, roughly 80% of the incoming class was admitted through Early Decision and the admission rate was 46% vs. 10% for those who applied via Regular Decision.  These are differences too big to ignore.

Note: most early decision deadlines occur in early November, so the time is now to consider if it makes sense for you. Click here for more information about early admission, and here to find out how College Kickstart can help you take full advantage. 

Most schools have completed their updates for the 2024-25 admission cycle (Class of 2029), and several of the changes we've observed are worth noting. 

Over 20 schools have modified early admission options available to applicants this fall.  Notable changes include American University (new EA1), Carnegie Mellon (ED2 removed), RIT (new EA1), UConn (new ED1), University of Florida (new EA1), UT Austin (new EA1), and University of Vermont (new ED2).

If you're considering early admission, be sure to check out our list as it may impact how you decide to apply this fall.   Note to our subscribers: the data has already been incorporated into the product, simply run College Kickstart to see how it impacts your plan.

Click on Continue Reading below for the details.

Here's our initial list of reported early decision and early action admission rates for the Class of 2028.

This list includes results from American University, Boston College, Boston University, Brown, Bucknell, Colorado College, Dartmouth, Duke, Emory, Fairfield, Florida State University (in-state), Fordham, Georgetown, Harvard, MIT, Northeastern (Boston Campus), Notre Dame, Rice, Santa Clara University, the University of Georgia, the University of Southern California, the University of Tennessee, the University of Virginia, Vanderbilt, Williams College, and Yale.  

Bookmark this page, as we'll be updating it frequently over the next several weeks.

Click Continue Reading for the list.

Here's our updated list of early decision and early action notification dates for the Class of 2028.  As many of you know, schools often post results in advance of their "official" notification dates, so we've compiled the most recently updated dates for you here where available, as well as last year's notification dates for reference.   Bookmark this page, as we'll be updating it frequently over the next 30 days.

Good luck, seniors!

Dartmouth accepted 606 applicants to the Class of 2028 under early decision.  

Early decision applicants totaled 3,550, up 18 percent year over year, resulting in an acceptance rate of 17 percent.   

Click here for the news release.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced today that it admitted a total of 661 early action applicants to the Class of 2028.  

A total of 12,563 applications were submitted this year, resulting in an overall admission rate of 5.3 percent.  

Click here for the blog post.

Rice University admitted 442 early decision applicants to the Class of 2028.  

2,886 early decision applications were received, an increase from last year. The admission rate was 15%

Click here for the news release.

The University of Georgia offered 9,000 early action applicants to the Class of 2028.

A total of 26,760 applications were received, up 3.5 percent from the previous year, resulting in an admit rate of 34 percent.  

Click here for the article.

Williams College announced 249 early decision applicants were admitted to the Class of 2028.

A total of 1068 early decision applications were received this year, resulting in an admission rate of 23 percent.   

Click here for the news release.

Brown accepted 898 applicants to the Class of 2028 under early decision.  

Early decision applications totaled 6,244 this year, down 8 percent and resulting in an early admission rate of 14 percent.

Click here for the news release.

Boston University announced that it admitted 34.1 percent of Early Decision I applicants to the Class of 2028.  

Overall, 3,832 applications were received and 1,307 accepted. 

Click here for the article.

The University of Virginia announced today that it admitted 1,133 early decision applicants to the Class of 2028.  

A total of 4,465 early decision applications were received, resulting in an overall early admission rate of 25 percent.  The resident admit rate was 30 percent versus 18.5 percent for non-residents. 

Click here for the news article.

Harvard announced today that it admitted 692 applicants to the Class of 2028 under restrictive early action.  

A total of 7,921 early applications were receive, resulting in an early admission rate of 8.74 percent, up over last year's rate of 7.56 percent. 

Click here for the news release.

Yale announced today that it accepted 9.02 percent of applicants to the Class of 2028 under Single Choice Early Action.

At total of 709 acceptances were offered from a pool of 7,856 early action applicants.  20 percent of applicants were deferred, 70 percent were denied, and 1 percent were withdrawn or incomplete.

Click here for the article.