10 Colleges Where Applying Early Increases the Chances of Getting In
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Applying to college through early decision or early action can help students gain admission to their favorite school.
But not all schools offer these programs. In fact, just about one-fifth of universities offer early decision and nearly one-third offer early action, according to a report from the National Association for College Admission Counseling.
Applicants applying early decision or early action for fall 2014 were accepted at a 63.5 percent rate, according to 242 schools reporting data to U.S. News in an annual survey. Among those colleges, the regular decision acceptance rate averaged 49.6 percent, a difference of 13.9 percentage points.
Discover three reasons [to apply early action to college.]
Florida Memorial University gave the biggest admissions bump to early applicants in fall 2014. The institution admitted 96.7 percent of early applicants that year while accepting just 17.8 percent of regular applicants. The University of Tulsa and University of Arkansas followed close behind.
Some colleges, including University of South Carolina and Binghamton University--SUNY admitted fewer students from their early applicant pools than their regular decision group. South Carolina admitted 64.9 percent of early applicants and 65.5 percent of regular applicants, a less than 1 percentage point difference. Binghamton admitted 42.9 percent of early applicants and 44.6 percent of regular admission applicants, a difference of 1.7 percentage points.
Consider these [four financial aid facts before applying early decision.]
Below is a list of the 10 schools where at least 10 percent of applicants applied early and early applicants had the strongest chance for admission compared with regular applicants for fall 2014. The difference in acceptance rates is based on unrounded numbers.
RNP denotes an institution that is ranked in the bottom one-fourth of its rankings category. U.S. News calculates a rank for the school but has decided not to publish it. Schools designated by U.S. News as Unranked were excluded from this list. U.S. News did not calculate a numerical ranking for those programs because they did not meet certain criteria that U.S. News requires to be numerically ranked.
School (state) | Percent of early applicants admitted early* | Percent of regular applicants admitted | Difference in acceptance rates | U.S. News rank and category |
|---|---|---|---|---|
96.7% | 17.8% | 78.9% | RNP, Regional Universities (South) | |
93.5% | 29.2% | 64.4% | 86 (tie), National Universities | |
88.4% | 30.5% | 57.9% | 129 (tie), National Universities | |
97.8% | 45.5% | 52.3% | RNP, National Universities | |
71.4% | 21.5% | 49.8% | 67 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges | |
83.1% | 41.2% | 41.9% | 2, Regional Universities (Midwest) | |
100% | 59.7% | 40.3% | 5, Regional Colleges (South) | |
93.6% | 53.6% | 39.9% | 66, National Liberal Arts Colleges | |
77.2% | 37.8% | 39.4% | 48 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges | |
92.1% | 55.7% | 36.4% | 82 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges |
*Combines early decision and early action programs at colleges that have both. Students should keep in mind that some colleges defer some early applicants to the regular pool, where they have an additional chance of admittance, so the percentage of early applicants who are eventually accepted may be higher.
Don't see your school on the list? Access the U.S. News College Compass to find acceptance rates, complete rankings and much more. School officials can access historical data and rankings, including of peer institutions, via U.S. News Academic Insights.
U.S. News surveyed nearly 1,800 colleges and universities for our 2015 survey of undergraduate programs. Schools self-reported myriad data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News' data the most accurate and detailed collection of college facts and figures of its kind. While U.S. News uses much of this survey data to rank schools for our annual Best Colleges rankings, the data can also be useful when examined on a smaller scale. U.S. News will now produce lists of data, separate from the overall rankings, meant to provide students and parents a means to find which schools excel, or have room to grow, in specific areas that are important to them. While the data come from the schools themselves, these lists are not related to, and have no influence over, U.S. News' rankings of Best Colleges, Best Graduate Schools or Best Online Programs. The acceptance rate data above are correct as of Nov. 24, 2015.
