Class of 2029 Early Decision/ Action Dates are Released: Key Updates and What to Expect

The week before Christmas is an anxious time for students who applied for early decisions and Early Action.

In mid-December, the top schools will admit the first members of the 2029 class.

Harvard has released its first offer of admission. However, it has curtailed the information regarding the number of applicants and how many of them are provided with the acceptance letter. Harvard, in its October 11 notification, declared that it would release all the information about the class of 2029 by the fall of 2025, which means that in order to know the acceptance rate of the just-declared acceptance offer, we would have to wait. It is expected that most colleges will follow the same procedure.

When will the rest of the colleges release offers for ED and EA?

The following are the official early-round decision release dates for top schools:

• Columbia University: Early Decision, Mid-December
• Cornell University: Early Decision, Mid-December
• Duke University: Early Decision, Mid-December
• Princeton University: Single Choice Early Action, Mid-December
• Georgetown: Early Action, December 15
• New York University: Early Decision, December 15
• MIT: Early Action, Mid-December
• UChicago: Early Action & Early Decision, Mid-December
• UNC-Chapel Hill, Early Action, January 31
• University of Pennsylvania: Early Decision, Mid-December
• Yale University: Single Choice Early Action, Mid-December
• Brown University: Early Decision, Mid-December

Here’s the list of other colleges offering EA and ED with their deadline.

What’s the difference between an Early Decision and a Regular Decision? There are three routes to getting into colleges: early decision, early action, and regular decision. There is a significant difference between all these options.

What is an Early Decision

If a candidate applies to the early decision route and if their application is accepted, then they must enroll in the program and the college they have applied to. That is, admission is binding. In an early decision, a student must submit a deposit within a stipulated time period, most generally May 1 of the next year, so in this case, May 1 of 2025.

There are colleges that accept early decisions, there are colleges that make early decisions in two rounds, and there are colleges that make both early decisions and early action. Lastly, we also have colleges like Havard, which offers only early action. 

Colleges offering ED and EA.

Early Decisions and Early Action plans can be very beneficial to students aspiring to be in top colleges. However, it is only beneficial to students who are very sure of attending the said colleges. Approximately 450 colleges have early decision and or early action plans, while some have both. 

The top colleges that have early decision offers are:

• Columbia University: Early decision, mid-December.
• Cornell University: Early Decision, Mid-December.
• Duke University: Early Decision, Mid-December.
• Brown University: Early Decision, Mid-December.
• New York University: Early Decision, December 15.

Top colleges offering Early action offers are:

• Princeton University: Single Choice Early Action, Mid-December. 
• Yale University: Single Choice Early Action, Mid-December.
• Georgetown: Early Action, 15th Of December. 
• UNC-Chapel Hill, Early Action, January 31 
• Harvard: Early Action, Mid-December.

Top colleges offering both Early Action and Early Decision are:

• UChicago: Early Action & Early Decision, Mid-December.

Difference between Early Decision and Early Action

Unlike early decision, early Action is not a binding agreement. Students don’t have to submit or commit to a school even if their application is accepted. However, it still shows the colleges that you are interested in their institution and would appreciate early feedback on their application. 

While the technicalities are understood, one of the major questions that students ask 

Is there an advantage to applying through early decision?

Highly qualified students have an increased chance of admission. This may be enough reason to apply through the early decision process. To put things into perspective, Harvard University reported an early acceptance rate of 8.74% while its regular acceptance rate was 3.59%, and both of these rates are for the class of 2028.

In good tier 2 colleges like Northwestern, half of the students admitted to the school’s class of 2028 were from the early application cycle.

Why Early Decision?

The higher acceptance rate can be attributed to the small pool of candidates who apply to this process. If you are highly confident of your application and the caliber you possess, you must apply through an early process.

Furthermore, Early decisions also help colleges to get high caliber students who are extremely sure of going to their college. All these reasons make the admission cycle comparatively easy for colleges, but most importantly, the college’s yield rate is increased through the early decision process. Learn more about yield rate here.

There is also a psychological factor in all this since the college application process is highly stressful, but applying early can help you prepare faster. For instance, if someone is not selected in the early decision stage, they would still have the benefit of having their common app essay, activities list, and letter of recommendation long before the regular decision deadline, so early application, although a daunting process, prepares one better in the overall journey.

Things to consider before applying to the early route.

As said earlier, not every college offers early admissions, and some offer two deadlines for their early rounds: early decision 1 and early decision 2. The first deadline is in mid-December, and the second deadline is around January.

College is the right fit for you.

• With that being said, Students must be absolutely sure of the program and college they are applying to because, if accepted, they cannot back off. If you have the slightest concern about any of the above-mentioned topics, maybe the Early decision is not the right choice for you.

Financial standpoint.

• Applying early also affects the area of financial aid; industry experts generally advise that students must pay caution if their decision is based on tuition costs. Therefore, although the chances of you getting an acceptance offer increase, it does not make sense for every student to apply through early decision. 
• Colleges do try to reduce financial disparity through merit-based scholarships and need-blind approaches. However, one must follow the dos and don’ts of applying for scholarships.

If you have the following things covered, EA and ED can be most appropriate choice for you:

• Has researched colleges extensively.
• Has found a college that is a strong match academically, socially, and geographically.
• Meets or exceeds the admission profile for the college for SAT/ACT scores, GPA, and class rank.
• You are financially sorted. 

Applying to an ED or EA plan is not appropriate for a student who:

• Has not thoroughly gone through college.
• Is applying early just to avoid stress and hard work.
• Is not fully committed to attending the college.
• He is applying early only because of his peers.
• does not have good senior grades

However, there are certain drawbacks to ED and EA.

Binding: once accepted, you must attend the college, which can act as a pressure if you have two thoughts about it.

Limited asses to financial aid opportunity: since student receive their admission offer and financial aid at the same time, also since the offer is binding, they are not in the position to evaluate or reconsider the financial assistance which is offered.

Limited time for other applications: Since the result is declared in mid-December and the usual deadline for different applications is around January, not much time is left to tailor the application according to other options available.

FAQs

1. Is there only one Early decision?

Ans. It depends on the college. Certain colleges have two deadlines, and some have one.

2. How do I check the Early Decision Deadline?

Ans. One can visit the respective website and check the deadline individually.