If you're a high school senior, your year is governed by about a dozen dates. Miss any of them and you lose a school. Here's the full 2026–2027 timeline.
Early Decision and Early Action — November 1 / November 15
Most selective schools have an Early Decision (binding) or Early Action (non-binding) deadline of November 1. A few use November 15. Examples:
- November 1: Harvard (REA), Yale (REA), Princeton (REA), Stanford (REA), MIT (EA), Brown (ED), Columbia (ED), Penn (ED), Dartmouth (ED), Duke (ED), Northwestern (ED), JHU (ED1), Vanderbilt (ED1), Cornell (ED), UChicago (EA, ED1), Notre Dame (REA), Boston College (EA), Georgetown (EA)
- November 15: Some honors and scholarship deadlines
Regular Decision — January 1 (sometimes January 5–15)
The standard RD deadline at most selective schools is January 1. Many schools accept up to January 5, January 15, or February 1. Always confirm per school.
ED2 — January 1 to January 15
Several schools (Brown, Cornell, NYU, Tufts, Vanderbilt, JHU, WashU, Bowdoin, Wesleyan, Williams, Pomona) offer Early Decision 2 — a second binding round in January for students who didn't get an ED1 acceptance or weren't ready in November.
Rolling admissions — fall through spring
Many large state schools admit rolling. Apply early — capacity fills.
Financial aid deadlines
- FAFSA opens: October 1 each year
- CSS Profile (selective privates): typically October 1 — but many schools require it by their ED/EA application deadline
- Verification documents: typically due 2–4 weeks after the application deadline
Decision release dates
- Early Decision / Early Action: mid-December
- ED2: early–mid February
- Regular Decision: late March (Ivy Day is the last Thursday of March, when all eight Ivies release at the same time)
Reply-by deadline (May 1)
May 1 is National College Decision Day. By 11:59 PM on May 1, accepted students must commit to one school by submitting an enrollment deposit. After that date, your spot is forfeit and the school can offer it to a waitlisted student.