Early Action Deadlines for Every College With EA

Early Action Deadlines for Every College With EA SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips If you're in the midst of college application season, then you know it's time to take action. For some of you, that might be early action, which pushes your deadlines up a couple months. This guide has the complete list of colleges that offer early action, along with advice on the best way to prepare for an early deadline. Before getting to the list, though, let's go over the ins and outs of the early action admission plan. What You Need to Know About Early Action Many schools offer the option of early action. This plan means that you'll both apply earlier than the regular deadline and find out earlier whether or not you got accepted. The most common deadlines for early action are November 1 and November 15. These deadlines are not flexible; you must get all your materials, including recommendation letters and test scores, to the school by the stated deadline. Since you apply early, you'll also be notified of your admissions decision early. The most common notification date is in mid-December, so you should find out whether you were accepted, denied, or deferred before you go on winter break. The possibility of having your application deferred is another unique feature of applying early action. If the early applicant pool is particularly competitive, then the admissions committee might push your application into the regular decision pool and review it again in January or February. If you get deferred and are very interested in the school, you could call its admissions office and ask if there's anything else you can send to strengthen your application before its next review. Unlike early decision, early action is not binding. You should have until the national response deadline of May 1 to tell your school whether you'll be attending or not. That means that you can still compare admissions and financial aid offers from other colleges- even if you applied to them regular decision- before accepting an offer and sending in your deposit. There is one circumstance for which early action has a restriction, though. Some schools, including Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and Stanford, offer only a restrictive or single-choice early action plan. Restrictive early action plans do not obligate you to accept an offer of admission, but they do mean that you can't apply to any other schools early action. For most other colleges and universities, you can apply early to as many schools as you want. But if you're applying to Harvard early action, you can't apply early action anywhere else; rather, you have to wait until the regular decision deadlines for your other schools. Given that early action deadlines are typically in November, what does this mean for your college application timeline? Your Timeline for Applying Early Action There's no point applying early action if you don't have a strong application to send. If you want to apply early, you'll need to prepare all your application materials before the November deadline. There are a bunch of moving parts when it comes to applying to college, so it's best to start the process months or even a year in advance. Read on for suggestions about how to plan out all major parts of your college application, from your SAT/ACT dates and recommendation letters to your official transcript and essays. Schedule Your SAT or ACT Test Dates Students almost always improve their scores when they retake the SAT/ACT and study in-between each test administration. If you're applying early action, the October SAT test date will likely be your last opportunity to take it. SAT scores are typically released within two weeks after you take the test. Fall test dates could be risky in case of delays, and you wouldn't really have time to see these scores before deciding whether or not to send them. Ideally, you'd be finished testing before this October test date if you're applying early action. Your last opportunity to take the ACT would likely be the September test date, assuming your scores become available in time. Again, if you're applying early action, you will feel less pressure if you're already all set with your test scores by the fall of your senior year. You might take the SAT/ACT for the first time in the spring of your sophomore year. You could then take it a second time in the fall of your junior year and (if needed) a third time in the spring of or summer after your junior year. Alternatively, you could take it first in the fall of your junior year and then again in the spring and/or summer. If, after all these attempts, you still see room for improvement in your SAT/ACT scores, you'd have one last opportunity to test in the fall of your senior year. Make sure that your score recipients are up to date in your College Board or ACT, Inc. account, since your official score reports will need to arrive by the deadline. Ask Early for Your Letters of Recommendation and Transcript Another important consideration is your letters of recommendation. You want to ask at least a month before you deadlines. This means that you should ask by October 1 if your early action deadline is November 1. It's a good idea to ask your junior-year teachers at the end of your junior year, as your academic work will be fresh in their minds and they'll have the whole summer to work on your rec letters. Since your guidance office handles sending out your official transcript, make this request a month in advance of deadlines as well. Work On Your Essays Over the Summer You also should start thinking about and drafting your personal essay and any other supplemental essays, over the summer before your senior year. You don't want to write your personal essay in a day! It's a very important part of your application that you should spend weeks to months on. Start by reading the essay prompts and letting ideas simmer in the back of your mind. You might find that the perfect topic pops into your head when you are out for a jog or are getting ready for school in the morning. You should then give yourself ample time to go through several drafts and revisions. Don't forget to get feedback from teachers and ideally friends and parents, too. Writing your personal essay is a process that takes time; you're trying to present a meaningful and insightful story about your identity in only about 650 words! So use your time wisely to think about, prepare, and revise a strong and memorable personal essay. You'll be glad you did once you get into your busy schedule of classes and activities senior year. Since gathering and completing all these things takes a few months, you'll want to make sure to keep track of everything in an organized way. We go over how to do this next. Keep Track Of Your Schedule To recap, here's a possible timeline for the process of applying early action: Leave yourself enough available test dates to take the SAT/ACT. You could take it during the spring of your sophomore year, the fall of your junior year, and a third time in the spring of your junior year. This way, you'll have one last test date in the fall of your senior year. Ask your teachers and counselor for recommendations by October 1, or at the end of your junior year. Request your transcript and any other documents you need your school to send to colleges by October 1. Work on your personal essay (and any other essays) over the summer, leaving yourself a few weeks or even months to brainstorm, draft, get feedback, and revise. Work on your application throughout the fall of your senior year. Be sure to proofread it several times and have it ready to go by the stated deadlines. As you can see, this whole application process starts at least four months before the early action deadline, and much earlier if you include SAT/ACT test dates and test prep. Early action can be a great option for students because it proves to admissions committees that you're enthusiastic about the school and on top of things. Plus, you can find out months earlier than normal whether or not you got into your college(s). Ultimately, as long as you plan and prepare ahead of time, you should have a strong, impressive application to send off to your early action colleges. Now, let's take a look at some popular schools that offer early action and their early action deadlines. We'll then give you the complete list of early action schools and their deadlines. Early Action Deadlines of Popular Schools As you can see, most of the following schools have an early action deadline of November 1, with the exception of UNC Chapel Hill, whose early action deadline is October 15. In the full list below, you'll find even more variation in terms of early action deadlines. School EA Deadline Caltech November 1 Georgetown November 1 Harvard* November 1 MIT November 1 Princeton* November 1 Stanford* November 1 UNC Chapel Hill October 15 University of Chicago November 1 University of Illinois at Chicago November 1 University of Michigan November 1 University of Notre Dame November 1 University of Virginia November 1 Villanova November 1 Yale* November 1 *Indicates Restrictive Early Action Want to build the best possible college application? We can help. PrepScholar Admissions is the world's best admissions consulting service. We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies. We've overseen thousands of students get into their top choice schools, from state colleges to the Ivy League. We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted to your dream schools. Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in. Beyond these popular schools, there are tons of other early action colleges- we'll go over them next. Complete List of Colleges and Early Action Deadlines This exhaustive list of early action schools is arranged in alphabetical order. If you're looking for a particular school, use ctrl + F to search for the name and jump directly to it in our list. School State EA Deadline Decision Notification Abilene Christian University TX November 1 - Adelphi University NY December 1 December 31 Agnes Scott College GA November 15 / January 15 December 15 / February 15 Assumption College MA November 1 / December 15 December 15 / January 31 Auburn University AL November 1 - Augustana College IL November 1 December 20 Austin College TX December 1 / February 1 January 15 / March 1 Azusa Pacific University CA November 15 Within three weeks Babson College MA November 1 December 15 Bard College NY November 1 December 31 Bay Path University MA December 15 - Baylor University TX November 1 January 15 Becker College MA November 15 Within three weeks Bellarmine University KY November 1 November Beloit College WI November 1 / December 1 December 1 / January 1 Bennington College VT December 1 February 1 Berklee College of Music MA November 1 January 31 Binghamton University- SUNY NY November 1 January 15 Biola University CA November 15 / January 15 January 15 / February 15 Birmingham-Southern College AL November 15 December 15 Bloomfield College NJ November 30 December 25 Bridgewater State University MA November 15 December 15 Bryant University RI November 15 January 15 Butler University IN November 1 December 15-31 Caldwell University NJ December 1 December 31 California Baptist University CA December 1 - California Institute of Technology CA November 1 December 15 California Lutheran University CA November 1 January 15 Carthage College WI Summer September 15 Case Western Reserve University OH November 1 December 17 The Catholic University of America DC November 1 January 1 Centenary College of Louisiana LA November 15 / December 15 - Central Michigan University MI May 1 May 8 Centre College KY December 1 January 15 Chapman University CA November 1 December 31 to February Christendom College VA December 1 December 15 Christopher Newport University VA December 1 January 15 Clark University MA November 1 - Cleveland Institute of Art OH December 1 / January 15 January 15 / February 15 Coe College IA December 10 Within two weeks College of Charleston SC December 1 January 15 College for Creative Studies MI December 1 - College of Idaho ID November 15 / January 15 December 15 / February 14 College of Mount Saint Vincent NY November 15 December 15 College of Saint Benedict MN November 15 / December 15 December 15 / January 15 The College of Saint Rose NY December 1 - College of Wooster OH November 15 December 31 Colorado College CO November 1 December 19 Colorado State University CO December 1 December 31 Columbia University, School of General Studies NY January 15 / March 1 March 1 / May 1 Concordia College New York NY November 15 - Concordia University Irvine CA November 15 / February 15 December 15 / March 1 Cornell College IA November 1 - Cornish College of the Arts WA December 1 December 15 Curry College MA December 1 - Dean College MA November 1 / December 1 December 15 / January 15 Delaware College of Art and Design DE December 1 January 1 DePaul University IL November 15 January 15 DePauw University IN December 1 January 15 Duquesne University PA December 1 - Earlham College IN November 15 / January 1 December 15 / February 1 Eastern Oregon University OR February 1 Rolling Eckerd College FL November 15 December 15 Elon University NC November 1 December 20 Emerson College MA November 1 December 15 Emmanuel College GA November 1 / December 15 After December 15 / After January 15 Fairfield University CT November 1 December 20 Felician College NJ November 15 - Fordham University NY November 1 December 19 Framingham State University MA November 15 - Furman University SC December 1 February 15 George Fox University OR November 1 December 7 George Mason University VA November 1 December 15 Georgetown University DC November 1 December 15 Georgia College and State University GA October 15 Early December Georgia Institute of Technology GA October 15 January 15 Georgia State University GA November 15 December 15 Georgian Court University NJ November 15 - Gonzaga University WA November 15 January 15 Gordon College MA November 1 / December 1 November 15 / December 15 Goucher College MD December 1 February 1 Grace College IN November 1 November 15 Gustavus Adolphus College MN November 1 November 15 Hamline University MN December 1 December 20 Hampden-Sydney College VA December 15 / January 15 - Hampshire College MA January 15 March 1 Hampton University VA October 15 December 31 Hanover College IN November 1 / December 1 Rolling Harvard University MA November 1 December 15 Hellenic College MA December 1 - Hendrix College AR November 15 / February 1 Beginning December 15 / Beginning March 1 High Point University NC November 15 December 16 Hofstra University NY November 15 / December 15 Beginning December 15 / Beginning January 15 Hollins University VA November 15 - Howard University DC November 1 December 15 Illinois College IL December 1 - Illinois Wesleyan University IL November 15 November 15 to December 15 Iona College NY December 1 December 25 Ithaca College NY December 1 February 1 James Madison University VA November 1 - John Carroll University OH December 1 December 21 Kalamazoo College MI November 1 December 20 Kean University NJ January 1 January 31 Knox College IL November 1 / December 1 December 15 / January 15 La Salle University PA November 1 November 30 Lake Forest College IL November 1 / January 15 Rolling Lasell College MA November 15 December 1 Lawrence University WI November 1 / December 1 December 15 / January 25 Le Moyne College NY November 15 Beginning December 15 Lees-McRae College NC December 1 December 15 Lenoir-Rhyne University NC November 7 November 21 Lesley University MA December 1 January 1 Lewis Clark College OR November 1 January 1 LIM College NY November 15 - Linfield College OR November 1 January 15 LIU Brooklyn NY December 1 December 31 LIU Post NY December 1 December 31 Longwood University VA December 2 - Loyola Marymount University CA November 1 December 31 Loyola University Maryland MD November 15 January 15 Lycoming College PA December 1 December 15 Lynn University FL November 15 December 15 Maine Maritime Academy ME November 30 February 1 Manhattanville College NY December 1 Rolling Marist College NY November 15 January 15 Marlboro College VT January 15 February 1 Massachusetts College of Art and Design MA December 1 Early January Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts MA December 1 December 15 Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences MA November 1 / December 1 December 15 / January 15 Massachusetts Institute of Technology MA November 1 December 15 Massachusetts Maritime Academy MA November 1 Before winter break The Master's University CA November 1 - McDaniel College MD November 15 / December 15 December 15 / January 15 Menlo College CA November 15 December 15 Mercer University GA October 15 November 7 Merrimack College MA November 15 / January 15 December 31 / February 28 Miami University OH November 1 / December 1 December 15 / February 1 Michigan State University MI November 1 January 15 Mills College CA November 15 December Millsaps College MS November 15 January 15 Minneapolis College of Art and Design MN December 1 December 15 Molloy College NY December 1 Decisions "made promptly" Monmouth University NJ December 1 January 15 Montserrat College of Art MA December 6 December 19 Morehouse College GA November 1 December 15 Mount Saint Mary's University CA December 1 January Mount St. Mary's University MD November 1 December 25 New York Institute of Technology NY February 15 Rolling Niagara University NY December 15 January 3 North Carolina State University NC November 1 January 30 Northeastern University MA November 1 February 1 Northwest Nazarene University ID November 1 / December 1 Before March 31 Northwest University WA November 15 / January 15 "Early notification of admission decision" Oglethorpe University GA November 15 Within two weeks The Ohio State University OH November 1 January 31 Ohio Wesleyan University OH December 1 December 15 Old Dominion University VA December 1 January 15-31 Oregon State University OR November 1 December 14 Pace University NY December 1 - Parsons School of Design (The New School) NY November 1 December 31 Patrick Henry College VA November 1 Rolling Point Loma Nazarene University CA November 15 December 15 Pratt Institute NY November 1 Late December to early January Presbyterian College SC December 1 December 15 Princeton University NJ November 1 December 15 Providence College RI November 1 Early January Purchase College- SUNY NY November 15 - Purdue University IN November 1 January 15 Queens University of Charlotte NC December 1 / February 1 December 31 / March 1 Radford University VA December 1 January 15 Randolph College VA November 15 December 15 Randolph-Macon College VA November 15 January 1 Regis College MA November 15 Rolling Rhodes College TN November 15 January 15 Rider University NJ November 15 December 20 Roger Williams University RI November 15 December 15 Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology IN November 1 December 15 Sacred Heart University CT December 15 - The Sage Colleges NY December 1 - Saint Anselm College NH November 15 January 15 Saint John's University MN November 15 / December 15 December 15 / January 15 Saint Joseph's College of Maine ME November 15 Beginning December 15 Saint Joseph's University PA November 1 December 20 Saint Mary's College of California CA December 15 - Saint Michael's College VT December 1 January Saint Peter's University NJ December 15 January 30 Salem State University MA November 15 Rolling Salisbury University MD December 1 January 15 Salve Regina University RI November 1 January 1 Santa Clara University CA November 1 December 31 School of the Art Institute of Chicago IL November 15 - Seattle Pacific University WA November 1 - Seattle University WA November 15 December 21 Seton Hall University NJ November 15 / December 15 December 30 / January 31 Sewanee: The University of the South TN December 1 February 14 Shepherd University WV November 15 Within 10 business days Siena College NY February 15 Within one week Simmons College MA November 1 / December 1 December 15 / January 15 Simpson University CA December 1 - Soka University of America CA November 1 December 1 Southern Methodist University TX November 1 - Southern New Hampshire University NH November 15 December 15 Southwestern University TX December 1 March 1 Spelman College GA November 15 December 31 St. John's College MD November 15 December 15 St. John's College NM November 15 December 15 Stanford University CA November 1 December 15 Sterling College VT December 15 / January 15 January 1 / February 1 Stonehill College MA November 1 January 1 Suffolk University MA November 15 December 20 SUNY Cortland NY November 15 January 1 SUNY New Paltz NY November 15 January 1 SUNY Oneonta NY November 15 January 1 SUNY Polytechnic Institute NY November 15 December 15 Susquehanna University PA November 1 / December 1 December 1 / January 15 Sweet Briar College VA October 1 December 14 Tarleton State University TX March 1 - Temple University PA November 1 January 10 Texas Christian University TX November 1 January 1 Texas Lutheran University TX November 15 Within two weeks Thomas College ME December 15 December 31 Transylvania University KY October 31 / December 1 Early December Trinity University TX November 1 December 15 Tulane University LA November 15 January 15 United States Coast Guard Academy CT October 15 December 23 Unity College ME December 15 - University of Akron OH November 1 - University at Albany- SUNY NY November 1 - University of Arkansas AR November 1 - University at Buffalo- SUNY NY November 15 "Candidates will receive an early response" University of Chicago IL November 1 December 15 University of Cincinnati OH December 1 - University of Colorado Boulder CO November 15 February 1 University of Dallas TX November 1 / December 1 - University of Dayton OH November 1 - University of Denver CO November 1 - University of Evansville IN November 1 December 15 University of Georgia GA October 15 December 1 University of Illinois at Chicago IL November 1 December 1 University of Kentucky KY December 1 Rolling, usually in 4-6 weeks University of Maine ME December 1 - University of Maine at Farmington ME November 15 Rolling University of Maine at Machias ME December 15 - University of Mary Washington VA November 15 January 31 University of Maryland MD November 1 February 1 University of Maryland, Baltimore County MD November 1 February 1 University of Massachusetts Amherst MA November 5 January 15 University of Massachusetts Boston MA November 1 - University of Massachusetts Dartmouth MA November 15 December 15 University of Massachusetts Lowell MA November 1 - University of Miami FL November 1 Late January to early February University of Michigan MI November 1 December 24 University of New England ME December 1 December 31 University of New Hampshire NH November 15 January 31 University of New Haven CT December 15 Rolling, usually in 4-6 weeks University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill NC October 15 January 31 University of North Carolina at Charlotte NC November 1 January 30 University of North Carolina at Wilmington NC November 1 January 20 University of Notre Dame IN November 1 December 15 University of Oregon OR November 1 December 15 University of the Pacific CA November 15 January 15 University of Redlands CA November 15 - University of Rhode Island RI December 1 - University of San Francisco CA November 1 Beginning December 15 University of Scranton PA November 15 Beginning December 15 University of South Carolina SC October 15 December 15 University of St. Thomas TX November 1 December 15 University of Tampa FL November 15 / January 15 December 15 / February 15 University of Tulsa OK November 1 "Decisions will be sent out in the fall" University of Utah UT November 1 January 15 University of Vermont VT November 1 December 13 University of Virginia VA November 1 February 1 University of Virginia's College at Wise VA December 1 / February 1 - Ursinus College PA November 1 December 15 Utica College NY November 15 December 15 Vanguard University of Southern California CA December 1 / January 15 - Villanova University PA November 1 January 15 Wabash College IN December 1 December 31 Warren Wilson College NC November 15 - Wartburg College IA December 1 - Washington College MD December 1 January 15 Washington Jefferson College PA January 15 February 15 Wells College NY December 15 - Western Carolina University NC November 15 December 15 Westminster College PA November 15 December 15 Westmont College CA October 15 / November 1 December 1 / Winter break Wheaton College IL November 1 December 31 Wheaton College MA November 15 January 15 Whittier College CA December 1 December 31 Whitworth University WA November 15 December 20 Willamette University OR November 15 December 30 William Paterson University NJ December 1 (Nursing only) - Wittenberg University OH December 1 January 1 Wofford College SC November 15 February 1 Worcester Polytechnic Institute MA November 1 / January 1 December 20 / February 10 Worcester State University MA November 15 - Yale University CT November 1 December 15 Most schools with early action allow you to apply to as many colleges as you want. Just double-check that you know whether your school's early action is restrictive or single choice. By applying early action, you can rest easy come December with the knowledge of where you'll be attending college next fall. Just don't fall prey to senioritis- you'll still be sending your senior-year grades to your colleges after all! What's Next? While you'll spend a lot of time on your essays and on prepping for tests, you also want to put effort into filling out your application forms. This guide goes into detail about how to write about your extracurricular activities on your college apps. Are you wondering about the differences between early action and early decision? Did you know that early decision isn't necessarily "early"? Read our expert guide to learn more about early decision and how it differs from early action. Maybe you're tired of reading articles and just want to learn about how to apply to college from a snazzy infographic. I read your mind, right? Check out this awesome infographic on how to get into your top-choice college. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points? We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now: