10 Colleges Where Most Early Applicants Get In
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Applying early to college can be a nightmare, or more like a dream come true. Students who apply early decision or early action and are rejected can be barred from reapplying to that school during the regular admissions cycle, leading to disappointment. But students who are accepted can find themselves sailing into their top-choice school.
It's hard to predict which outcome early applicants will have, but students who apply early to certain schools may greatly increase their chances of acceptance.
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At the University of Tulsa, there was a 68.4 percentage point difference between the acceptance rates for early and regular applicants for fall 2013. The Oklahoma school had the largest difference reported among the 228 ranked institutions that submitted data to U.S. News. Among early applicants, 98.5 percent were accepted.
The University of Tulsa also topped the list of schools where early applicants had the advantage in fall 2012 admissions. For fall 2013, though, some new schools also made the list, such as High Point University in North Carolina and Kalamazoo College in Michigan. At both schools more than 90 percent of early applicants were accepted.
Among the 10 schools with the largest difference between applicants admitted early and regular applicants admitted, the difference in acceptance rates averaged 45 percentage points. On the opposite end of the spectrum, University of Massachusetts--Lowell had a much higher acceptance rate for regular applicants. Only 31.6 percent of early applicants were admitted during fall 2013, while 89.1 percent of regular applicants were admitted.
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Prospective students who apply to a school under early decision are typically obligated to attend the school to which they apply if they are accepted. Those who apply to an institution as an early action candidate are generally not required to attend. Students who choose either option may receive a decision as early as November, leaving them several months to apply to more schools if they are rejected or allowing them to spend their last year of high school preparing for life at their No. 1 college choice.
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 2013. The difference in acceptance rates is based on unrounded numbers. Unranked schools, which did not meet certain criteria required by U.S. News to be numerically ranked, were not considered for this report.
School (state) | Percent of early applicants admitted early* | Percent of regular applicants admitted | Difference in acceptance rates | U.S. News rank and category |
|---|---|---|---|---|
98.5% | 30.1% | 68.4% | 88 (tie), National Universities | |
93.4% | 41.4% | 52% | 1 (tie), Regional Colleges (South) | |
80.5% | 32.8% | 47.8% | 113 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges | |
92.8% | 47.9% | 44.9% | 64 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges | |
81.4% | 38.4% | 42.9% | 161 (tie), National Universities | |
81.4% | 42.1% | 39.3% | 2, Regional Universities (Midwest) | |
60.2% | 21.5% | 38.7% | 35 (tie), National Universities | |
87.3% | 49.2% | 38.2% | 77 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges | |
88.9% | 51.9% | 37% | 60 (tie), Regional Universities (North) | |
85.5% | 49.4% | 36.1% | 124 (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 in the top 10? Access the U.S. News College Compass to find acceptance rate data, 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 2014 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 or Best Graduate Schools. The acceptance rate data above are correct as of Nov. 18, 2014.
Delece Smith-Barrow is an education reporter at U.S. News, covering graduate schools. You can follow her on Twitter or email her at dsmithbarrow@usnews.com.
