How much early decision raises your admission odds, by college
Early decision admit rates compared with everyone else, from each college's own Common Data Set.
By DreamSchool.co Research · October 31, 2026
At 23 of 24 selective colleges that publish the numbers, early decision applicants were admitted at a higher rate than everyone else. At the median college, the early decision admit rate was 1.9 times the rate for all other applicants.
| College (year) | ED admit rate | Everyone else | ED applicants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northeastern University (2024-25) | 43% | 3.8% | 3,466 |
| Dartmouth College (2025-26) | 22% | 3.8% | 3,552 |
| Vanderbilt University (2025-26) | 14% | 4.1% | 6,202 |
| Rice University (2025-26) | 11% | 7.4% | 5,748 |
| Barnard College (2025-26) | 33% | 6.4% | 1,437 |
| Emory University (2025-26) | 22% | 8.6% | 4,728 |
| Tufts University (2025-26) | 32% | 8.5% | 3,344 |
| Washington University in St Louis (2025-26) | 27% | 9.3% | 4,934 |
| Harvey Mudd College (2025-26) | 18% | 12% | 594 |
| Colgate University (2024-25) | 20% | 13% | 2,447 |
| Washington and Lee University (2025-26) | 28% | 12% | 1,048 |
| Wellesley College (2025-26) | 29% | 13% | 1,023 |
| Grinnell College (2024-25) | 34% | 13% | 828 |
| Boston College (2024-25) | 33% | 14% | 4,288 |
| Denison University (2024-25) | 18% | 17% | 1,941 |
| Colorado College (2024-25) | 32% | 17% | 918 |
| Carleton College (2025-26) | 35% | 20% | 760 |
| Skidmore College (2025-26) | 42% | 22% | 847 |
| University of Richmond (2025-26) | 37% | 21% | 1,154 |
| Pitzer College (2025-26) | 43% | 25% | 385 |
| Lehigh University (2025-26) | 47% | 27% | 2,040 |
| Franklin and Marshall College (2025-26) | 30% | 32% | 860 |
| Macalester College (2024-25) | 39% | 28% | 447 |
| Bucknell University (2025-26) | 55% | 30% | 1,200 |
"Everyone else" is all first-year applicants minus the early decision round, so it includes early action, regular decision, and early decision applicants who were deferred and later admitted.
The gap is not all strategy. Early decision pools include recruited athletes, legacy applicants, and students who have prepared for one college for years. Colleges fill a large share of their class this way. A higher ED rate does not mean the same student would be admitted in ED but not in regular decision. It does mean colleges reward a binding commitment. That helps you only if you are sure of the college and do not need to compare financial aid offers.
Each college's page on DreamSchool.co shows these numbers next to its 2026-27 deadlines, and My plan shows them when you choose early decision.
Sources
Each college's Common Data Set (its first-year admission and early decision tables) for the most recent year it has published. Both numbers for each college come from the same document. We include colleges with an admission rate under 30% and at least 100 early decision applicants.
More on DreamSchool.co
Colleges in this story
- Northeastern University
- Dartmouth College
- Vanderbilt University
- Rice University
- Barnard College
- Emory University
- Tufts University
- Washington University in St Louis
- Harvey Mudd College
- Colgate University
- Washington and Lee University
- Wellesley College
- Grinnell College
- Boston College
- Denison University
- Colorado College
Related
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- Test required, optional or blind: where four-year colleges standNews · October 30, 2026