Admission Statistics: Acceptance Rates – Early vs. Regular
Many colleges and universities continue to offer early action and early decision programs. When considering early vs. regular admission options, applicants should keep in mind recent acceptance rates for those applying early vs. regular admission. The acceptance rate differential has been significant at many colleges and universities including: Bowdoin, Boston College, Brown, Columbia University, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, Northwestern, Stanford, Williams College, Wellesley and Yale.
With early action, students can apply for early notification without having to make a binding commitment. Early action and early decision applicants generally learn by year end whether they’ve been accepted, rejected or deferred to the regular admissions pool. U.S. News compiled two lists of interest to those considering early action and early decision:
- “Colleges Where Applying Early Action Helps”
- “Colleges Where Applying Early Decision Helps”
The chart below contains selected information (based on recent years) from U.S. News. Consult U.S. News, Specific College and University Web Sites and the Common Data Set for confirmation and additional information.
|
College or University |
State |
Early Program |
Early Accept % |
Overall Accept % |
Difference |
| American University |
DC |
ED |
75% |
53% |
22% |
| Barnard College |
NY |
ED |
48% |
29% |
19% |
| Bates College |
ME |
ED |
46% |
29% |
16% |
| Boston College |
MA |
EA |
36% |
26% |
10% |
| Bowdoin College |
ME |
ED |
30% |
19% |
11% |
| Brandeis University |
MA |
ED |
53% |
32% |
21% |
| Brandeis University |
MA |
EA |
40% |
32% |
8% |
| Brown University |
PA |
ED |
23% |
14% |
9% |
| Bryn Mawr College |
PA |
ED |
53% |
49% |
4% |
| Bucknell University |
PA |
ED |
65% |
30% |
35% |
| California Institute of Technology |
CA |
EA |
27% |
17% |
9% |
| Carleton College |
MN |
ED |
55% |
28% |
28% |
| Case Western Reserve University |
OH |
EA |
89% |
73% |
15% |
| Claremont McKenna College |
CA |
ED |
28% |
19% |
9% |
| Clark University |
MA |
ED |
73% |
56% |
17% |
| Colby College |
ME |
ED |
47% |
31% |
16% |
| Colgate University |
NY |
ED |
51% |
24% |
27% |
| College of the Holy Cross |
MA |
ED |
56% |
34% |
22% |
| College of William and Mary |
VA |
ED |
54% |
34% |
20% |
| Columbia University |
NY |
ED |
24% |
10% |
14% |
| Connecticut College |
CT |
ED |
65% |
37% |
28% |
| Cooper Union |
NT |
ED |
16% |
9% |
7% |
| Cornell University |
NY |
ED |
37% |
21% |
16% |
| Dartmouth College |
NH |
ED |
28% |
14% |
14% |
| Davidson College |
NC |
ED |
40% |
26% |
15% |
| Denison University |
OH |
ED |
78% |
38% |
40% |
| DePauw University |
IN |
ED |
82% |
65% |
17% |
| Duke University |
NC |
ED |
38% |
22% |
16% |
| Elon University |
NC |
ED |
75% |
42% |
33% |
| Emerson College |
MA |
EA |
47% |
37% |
10% |
| Flagler College |
FL |
ED |
73% |
45% |
28% |
| Franklin and Marshall College |
PA |
ED |
70% |
36% |
35% |
| Furman University |
SC |
ED |
66% |
57% |
9% |
| George Washington University |
DC |
ED |
67% |
37% |
29% |
| Grinnell College |
IA |
ED |
69% |
43% |
26% |
| Hamilton College |
NY |
ED |
36% |
28% |
8% |
| Hampshire College |
MA |
ED |
71% |
53% |
18% |
| Harvey Mudd College |
CA |
ED |
34% |
31% |
3% |
| Hobart and William Smith |
NY |
ED |
68% |
54% |
15% |
| Howard University |
DC |
ED |
71% |
49% |
23% |
| Kenyon College |
OH |
ED |
55% |
31% |
24% |
| Lafayette College |
PA |
ED |
56% |
37% |
19% |
| Lehigh University |
PA |
ED |
58% |
28% |
30% |
| MIT |
MA |
EA |
13% |
12% |
1% |
| Northeastern University |
MA |
EA |
48% |
35% |
13% |
| Northwestern University |
IL |
ED |
40% |
26% |
14% |
| Pomona College |
CA |
ED |
22% |
16% |
6% |
| Pratt Institute |
NY |
EA |
79% |
42% |
37% |
| Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute |
NY |
ED |
50% |
44% |
6% |
| Rhode Island School of Design |
RI |
EA |
37% |
29% |
8% |
| Rice University |
TX |
ED |
34% |
23% |
11% |
| Skidmore College |
NY |
ED |
59% |
30% |
30% |
| Smith College |
MA |
ED |
64% |
48% |
16% |
| Stanford University |
CA |
EA |
16% |
10% |
7% |
| Stetson University |
FL |
ED |
91% |
54% |
37% |
| Stevens Institute of Technology |
NJ |
ED |
70% |
52% |
18% |
| SUNY College–Oneonta |
NY |
EA |
50% |
37% |
12% |
| Swarthmore College |
PA |
ED |
34% |
16% |
18% |
| Syracuse University |
NY |
ED |
77% |
53% |
25% |
| Trinity College |
CT |
ED |
69% |
42% |
28% |
| Tulane University |
LA |
EA |
66% |
27% |
39% |
| Union College |
NY |
ED |
77% |
39% |
38% |
| University of Connecticut |
CT |
EA |
70% |
55% |
16% |
| University of Georgia |
GA |
EA |
66% |
56% |
10% |
| University of Miami |
FL |
EA |
52% |
39% |
14% |
| U N C –Chapel Hill |
NC |
EA |
43% |
34% |
9% |
| University of Notre Dame |
IN |
EA |
42% |
27% |
16% |
| Vanderbilt University |
TN |
ED |
36% |
25% |
11% |
| Vassar College |
NY |
ED |
38% |
25% |
13% |
| Wellesley College |
MA |
ED |
51% |
36% |
15% |
| Wesleyan University |
CT |
ED |
46% |
27% |
18% |
| Wheaton College |
MA |
ED |
86% |
39% |
47% |
| Williams College |
MA |
ED |
37% |
17% |
20% |
| Yale University |
CT |
EA |
18% |
9% |
10% |
As reported in The College Finder, in recent years, a number of leading colleges accepted a large percentage of the freshman class through early decision:
- Cornell (41%)
- U of Penn (32%)
- Columbia (25%
- Brown (22%)
- Williams (19%)
- Dartmouth (18%)
- Bowdoin (17%)
- Swarthmore (17%)
- Middlebury (16%)
- Colby (15%
- Colgate (15%)
- Barnard (15%)
- Wesleyan (14%)
- Johns Hopkins (13%)
- Duke (11%)
- Emory (11%)
- Tufts (10%)
Sources: U.S. News – Early Decision U.S. New Early Action
The College Finder: Choose the School That’s Right for You!
InLikeMe has compiled this page to assist our readers and does not take responsibility for accuracy. Please independently confirm early action & early decision information and related requirements.
