- By Eli

The early round is the biggest strategic decision a senior makes, and most families treat it as a nice to have. However, at some point in this process, you’ll need to make a decision about where you’d like to go, so why not make that decision when it helps your chances as opposed to letting the colleges choose for you?

Here is a quick breakdown of the most popular types of Early plans:

• Early Decision is binding. Apply to one school, and if admitted, withdraw everywhere else and enroll. This generally runs from a November 1 due date to a mid-December notification date. Generally, while there will always be exceptions, private schools tend to offer Early Decision while public schools will offer Early Action.
• Early Action is non-binding. You apply early, hear early, and decide in the spring. Here you apply by November 1st (sometimes sooner), and hear back mid-December to mid-February.
• Early Decision 2 is a second binding round with a January deadline, and you’d hear back mid-February.

For colleges, it’s a numbers game

Colleges push the Early Decision round because of “yield”, the share of admitted students who enroll. A binding plan produces a yield near 100%. Every admit through Early Decision is a student the college never has to compete for in the spring, and they know will definitely attend, so colleges tend to respond with much higher acceptance rates. The running phrase in a Regular Decision admissions committee was “they could have applied Early, we just don’t have space for them now”.

In the Class of 2030 cycle, Duke admitted 13.8% of early applicants and 3.7% of regular ones. Brown admitted 16.5% early and 3.9% regular.

Another really interesting number is how many seats remain by January.

Duke’s 847 early admits, all bound to enroll, filled close to half a class of about 1,740. Tulane went further. For the Class of 2026, it made 1,300 Early Decision offers compared to 403 in regular decision. A trend that we’re seeing more and more of is this exact story: colleges are filling over 50% of their class through Early Decision as that benefits them the most, making Regular Decision even more competitive.

The early pool does also account for other factors, including recruited athletes and other institutional priorities (legacy families, donors, etc.), so the raw number does show a higher number than what is real for the broader population. That said, the advantage still stands.

When ED is the right call

Two things have to be true. You have a clear first choice you would attend over every other option, and the school is a “reasonable reach”.

Just because a school like UPenn is the dream school and offers Early Decision, doesn’t mean you should automatically go for it if your profile isn’t within striking distance for them. A school should be within reach for a student AND the commitment of Early Decision can help tip an outcome in your favor.

ED2 is the underused move

Most families choose the ED school and stop there. I always recommend lining up an ED2 plan (where applicable) at the same time, in August, before anything is submitted.

Colleges release Early Decision notifications in mid-December, and ED2 deadlines follow within days, over the holidays. If the answer from your Early Decision school isn’t what you hoped for, you never want to be in the high pressure situation of navigating strategy with that hanging over your head. Not every college that has Early Decision also offers Early Decision 2, but when it is available, it can function as a second strategic plan.

Early Action

Anytime a college offers Early Action, I always recommend pursuing that. You get several benefits here, you hear back from colleges sooner, the acceptance rate goes up a little bit (but not as much as in Early Decision), and you’re often considered for scholarship money. The only cost to doing this is ensuring that your application is ready in time.

While not every college offers Early Action, having a few schools on your list that match what you’re looking for where you’d hear back sooner can be a game changer mentally. Knowing that you have a viable option for college already confirmed can allow you to reach a little more aggressively in Early Decision 2 or Regular Decision.

Thinking beyond the US

Many families however, are thinking about universities beyond those that exist in the US. In these instances, the strategy becomes even more important as you think about sequencing out submission timelines, decision notification dates, and where you ultimately want to end up. Every country will have different dates to work against, so work closely with your counselor to establish the strategy for what your priorities are and work backwards to sequence the timeline and what decision plan you’d want to apply under.

Heading into November

As we approach the upcoming deadlines, definitely work with your counselor to map out your Early strategy and ensure everything is lined up for any possible outcoming. This is a great way to maximize your chances across the board and help reach for some schools that might not have been possible otherwise!