Strategies for Applying Early Decision
May 27, 2025
In the early 1990s, the University of Pennsylvania was struggling to keep up with its fellow Ivy League universities and found itself frequently relegated to “backup plan” status among the nation鈥檚 top students. Their institution鈥檚 location in less-than-idyllic West Philadelphia and the “sounds like a state school” name contributed to their relative woes. In an effort to net more big fish, UPenn offered prospective students a bargain of Mephistophelean proportions鈥攎ake a binding commitment to us months before the regular admissions cycle begins and we’ll offer you significantly improved odds of acceptance. Non-binding forms of the early application process (early action) have been around since the 1950s, but as we neared the 2000s, hundreds of schools began to see the advantage of locking in members of their freshman class as early as possible. This is why all applicants need to fully understand their Early Action vs. Early Decision options.
Fast-forward to 2025 and Early Decision is a massive factor in the admissions game, and whether/how to deploy your “ED card” may be an important component of your overall application strategy. It is a quid pro quo of sorts鈥攖he college can count on you, a desirable applicant as a guaranteed enrollee into their incoming freshman class and you can gain an edge in the admissions process. Early action options exist at most schools as well. However, many applicants are unsure how this differs from Early Decision. In this article, we will answer the following questions:
- Early action vs. Early decision
- How early decision can help you
- How early decision cannot help you
- Advice on selecting the right early decision school
Let’s begin by further examining the differences between Early Action (EA) and Early Decision (ED):
Early Action vs. Early Decision
Close to 500 colleges in the United States offer an EA or ED option. Many of the top-ranked schools in the country offer both. Here are some facts about each option:
Early Action (EA)
- Apply earlier than the regular deadline. This is often in November, but earlier at some colleges.
- This option is non-binding. In other words, you are under no obligation to attend, if accepted via EA.
- You’ll receive your decision sometime around the December holidays.
- You can apply to as many other colleges as you like. This includes EA, ED, and regular decision options.
- You can consider all other acceptances/financial aid offers that you receive. Again, you are under no obligation to enroll in a school that admits you via Early Action.
Early Decision (ED)
- Many ED I deadlines are on November 1 or November 15.
- Some colleges offer Early Decision II closer to the Regular Decision deadline.
- You can only apply to one school via Early Decision.
- Most schools release their Early Decision results in December.
- Early Decision is binding. In other words, if you are accepted via ED, you are expected to attend.
- Further, this means that you will not be able to consider other offers of admission/financial aid offers.
For a full examination of whether you should apply EA, check out our blog: Should I Apply Early Action?
For more on whether or not you should consider applying ED, continue reading…
How Early Decision Can Help You
The Early Decision “card” is one of the most powerful strategic tools an applicant possesses. No other tactical move will increase your admission odds more at a school that may be just a hair beyond your reach.
In general, colleges that offer Early Decision grant far more favorable acceptance rates to early applicants than to those in the regular round. For example, in one recent admissions season (Class of 2029) Northwestern admitted 20% of ED applicants, Duke accepted 11%, and Vanderbilt took in 13% (from ED I & ED 2 combined).
Compare this to the typical acceptance rates for the general applicant pool:
- Northwestern: 5-6%
- Duke: 3-4%
- Vanderbilt: 3-4%
It’s critical to note that part of the reason for this disparity is that many recruited athletes and legacy students are admitted in the early rounds. Therefore it is not a straight comparison of 20% vs. 5-6% in the case of Northwestern, as a decent number of those admitted via ED fall into some kind of specialty category.
Still, academic research has demonstrated that applying ED is worth 100 points on the SAT. This makes sense鈥攃olleges, even of the elite variety, are competing with each other for top candidates. Any applicant who applies via Early Decision is irrevocably committing themselves to one school. For admissions officers who lose sleep over yield rates (the percentage of accepted students who ultimately enroll), these pledged applicants are the antidote to their insomnia.
For a complete list of competitive colleges’ ED vs. RD acceptance rates, visit our Dataverse page.
How Early Decision Cannot Help You
The glamorization of the million-to-one chance is deeply ingrained in the American ethos. From Rocky Balboa becoming heavyweight champ to The Golden Ticket in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, we are taught to believe that good fortune just might happen in spite of infinitesimal odds. Every time the Powerball hits a billion dollars, half of the country begins daydreaming about what they will do with their ten-figure winnings, ignoring the reality that they are more likely to be killed by a vending machine (an actual statistical fact).
Each year, we witness countless students with absolutely fantastic, but not quite Duke/Brown/Columbia numbers, use their sole Early Decision or Restrictive Early Action (REA) application on those very institutions. However, come decision release time, these students are very frequently disappointed. Why?
Let’s say you have an SAT of 1450, you are in the top 10% of your class, and you wish to cast your sole ED opportunity toward one of the three aforementioned schools. In most cases, this move would be a poor strategic use of Early Decision. The average SAT score of an admitted applicant at Brown, Columbia, and Duke is right around 1500, and includes special applicants, such as those from disadvantaged backgrounds, athletes, or legacies with scores significantly below the mean. As such, these schools simply have little incentive to snatch up applicants with a 1450 SAT who sit in the top 10% of their class; they barely have to compete for students who boast perfect credentials.聽A quick examination of various colleges’ yield rates further illuminates this point.
How Yield Rate Impacts Early Decision
In 2024, UChicago possessed the top yield rate in the country at 88%. Harvard and MIT came in at 84-86%.聽 Yale (70%), Princeton (77%), and Barnard (76%) also sit atop the statistical category. Sitting a notch below, Penn and Cornell, both ED schools, have yield rates of 68% and 64%, respectively, which are quite high relative to other elite institutions. Remember, a college’s yield rate is the percentage of accepted students who ultimately enroll. Colleges with low acceptance and high yield rates are not hurting for quality applicants, meaning they’ll be far less likely than other schools to admit borderline applicants during the Early Decision round.
On the other hand, Tufts, Rice, and Johns Hopkins have yield rates around the 45-50% mark. NYU has risen from the low 40s all the way to 55% in just the last few years. Emory, Lehigh, and GW are typically between 18-28%. These elite schools, given their lower yield rate, will be more motivated to lock down applicants within an acceptable range of their standards.
How to Pick the Perfect Early Decision School
The key is to pick a school that: a) you want to attend; b) you can afford; and c) offers a realistic chance of acceptance.
As mentioned above, applying Early Decision is your best chance of increasing your admission odds at a school that may be just a hair beyond your reach. However, just a hair is key鈥攖hink of it as needing to stand on your tippy toes to gain admission versus scaling a 60-foot ladder. The average student admitted to schools like Penn, Bowdoin, and Cornell has SATs somewhere in the neighborhood of 1500 and holds a GPA of 4.0+. If you are in the SAT ballpark and boast a strong GPA, class rank, etc., then institutions of this ilk have every reason to strongly consider you, the bird in the hand, versus those still in the regular decision bush.
If your credentials are not at or above this standard, though, you’ll want to consider setting your sights on more reasonable “Reach” schools.
For more, check out our blog: Creating the Perfect College List.
Early Action vs. Early Decision – Final Thoughts
Weighing Early Action vs. Early Decision can be a hard choice. However, applying to schools through EA doesn’t restrict your options in any way. Alternatively, Early Decision is binding and must be used with great care.
The Early Decision “card,” if used thoughtfully, can be a decisive strategic advantage in the game of college admissions and yet, for some reason, many students elect to use it as the application equivalent of a Mega Millions ticket. Unless you are in a special category (athlete, legacy, underrepresented minority), or your core stats are above the mean of accepted applicants, an ED application to Brown, Columbia, or Duke is dead on arrival. The truly (shameless plug), will eschew the Powerball strategy and invest their singular early opportunity in a school that actually has a realistic chance to say, “Yes.”
