Early Decision Is the New Regular Decision: Why Applying Early Can Triple the Chances for Admission to Dream Colleges

Guiding your children through the college admissions process can be a stressful experience. Before even thinking about the application itself, there are dozens of decisions to be made, from where your child will apply to when they will apply. Deciding when to apply can be a hugely important decision because the data shows that applying during early rounds of admission offers a big boost to the odds of admission.

What is early admission?

Colleges typically offer one of two types of early admissions:

• Early decision is binding. If a student applies to a college through early decision, they are obligated to enroll if admitted. This is a way of communicating to a college that they are your top choice.
• Early action is not binding. If a student is admitted through early action, they can still choose to enroll elsewhere. Restrictive early action, also known as single-choice early action, is a common type of early action program. Whereas a student may apply to any number of colleges early through regular early action, restrictive early action limits what other colleges a student can apply early to. For example, Princeton’s single-choice early action policy forbids students from applying early to any other private college.

What are the benefits of applying early?

There are plenty of benefits to applying early. Early applicants receive college decisions by December, allowing them to make more informed choices throughout the remainder of the college application process. They also have the benefit of getting the application process over with more quickly, assuming they are happy with the admission decisions they receive.

However, the single biggest reason to apply early is that most selective colleges admit anywhere from 1/3 to 1/2 or more of their incoming class during early application rounds. With a smaller applicant pool, early rounds of admission typically lend a significant advantage to applicants, sometimes doubling or tripling the chances for admission.

Why do colleges admit so many students early?

It’s important to remember that college admissions is a two-way street. While applicants worry about whether and where they’ll get in, colleges worry about how many admitted students will ultimately enroll.

This is known as a college’s yield rate, which heavily influences a school’s reputation. A higher yield generally means higher rankings and greater prestige. Schools with high yield rates are able to admit fewer students, thus increasing their selectivity (and, as a result, their perceived prestige). For example, in 2024, Vanderbilt University admitted 251 fewer students than the previous year due to its increasing yield rate, resulting in a historically low overall admission rate of just 5.1%.

Students who apply early—whether through binding or non-binding admissions programs—tend to matriculate at higher rates, so admitting a sizable percentage of students early can increase a school’s yield.

How much impact does applying early have?

The impact of applying early differs from school to school, but a look at some of the top-ranked colleges in the U.S. paints a pretty clear picture.

• Harvard admitted 692 students through early action last year. They made up more than a third of the total admits for the year. The admission rate for students who applied early was 8.7%—still low, but significantly better than the 2.7% admission rate for those who applied in the regular round of decisions.
• MIT admitted more than half of its incoming class early last year. The admission rate for early applicants was only 5.3%, but that’s still more favorable than the 2.6% admission rate for regular applicants.
• Yale admitted more than a third of its incoming class early this year. Those early applicants saw a 10.8% admission rate compared to just 3.6% for regular decision applicants.

The numbers are even more impressive at top-ranked liberal arts colleges. In 2024, Middlebury College admitted 60% of their incoming class through early decision; at Grinnell College, that number was 67%.

Your College Admissions Strategy

Deciding whether and where to apply early is a big decision. Selective schools are more likely to practice either early decision or restrictive early action, both of which limit where an applicant can apply early. Families need to strategize to balance the benefits of applying early with the limitations placed on applicants.

For example, let’s say a student has Harvard, Yale, and Princeton on their list of dream schools. All three schools have restrictive early action policies that prevent students from applying to more than one private school through early admission. In other words, the student can only apply early to one of the three schools.

Which one to choose?

First, consider the student’s preferences and reasons for their top choice. Make sure your child has had the opportunity to visit campuses and that they’re familiar with the school, its offerings, and the lifestyle offered on campus. Deciding where to apply early needs to be an informed decision.

Next, research the financial aid policies at the schools. Reach out to the financial aid office to ask questions. Use affordability calculators to estimate cost. Getting into a dream college isn’t helpful if the college is financially out of reach.

Lastly, try to determine the admission rate for early versus regular applicants. Not all schools publish this information, but many do. If one school has a significantly bigger boost to acceptance rates, it may be more strategic to apply early there and benefit from the greater likelihood of admission.

A Final Word on Early Decision

Always remember that early decision is binding. A student should never apply early decision unless they are certain that this is THE school they want to attend—and that the school is financially within reach.

The College Admissions Timeline

Applying early heavily impacts the college admissions timeline. Early deadlines are typically in October and November, and since students should plan to spend about two to three months on application essays, those who plan to apply early should start work now! To learn more about the application process, read our guide on what to do and when.