Updated February 6, 2025
Should You Apply Early Action? Everything You Need to Know
Making your college list and choosing where to apply is a huge step.
But it’s also confusing – especially when you add the option to apply through early action. Many students and parents are unsure whether early action is the right path, and they can miss out on opportunities to maximize their admissions chances as a result.
For 20 years, PrepMaven has been working with high school students on their college application materials. Our students have been accepted through both early action and regular decision to top schools like Princeton, Harvard, UCLA, and other public and private institutions around the country.
To decide whether early action is right for you and optimize your application strategy, read on to learn more about the pros and cons of early action and when you should (and shouldn’t) consider applying early.
We’ve also compared hard data from top schools to get an inside look into how much early action really helps your chances.
Then, once you’re ready to take the next steps on your application, reach out to our team for a free consultation!
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Early Action in a Nutshell
What is early action?
Does early action really help you get in?
What does restrictive early action mean?
When should you consider early action?
Does early action have a downside?
What does early action mean for financial aid?
Next steps
Early Action in a Nutshell
- Early action means applying to college or university by an earlier deadline (usually in October and November) and getting a decision earlier (usually in mid-December).
- Early action is not binding, meaning you can get into a school under early action and still choose to attend a different institution.
- This also means you can compare different financial aid packages to make the best choice for you.
- Restrictive early action means you can only apply to one school’s early action program — but there’s a loophole: you can apply to a private university under restrictive early action and still apply early to state schools.
- If you apply early, make sure you don’t put all your eggs in one basket: prepare your backup application materials for the regular decision round before you’re notified of your early application decision.
What is Early Action?
Early action is an option to apply to college in an earlier admissions cycle. If you apply early action, you’ll submit your college application as early as October or November, instead of the regular decision deadline of January or February. You’ll also get a faster decision from the school, often in December.
Around 450 colleges and universities offer the option to apply early action or early decision (a slightly different process). Deadlines vary, so if you choose early action, make sure to check which early deadlines apply to you.
Here’s a sample of colleges that offer both early and regular decision options for applying.
| College or University | Early Action Deadline | Regular Decision Deadline |
| Princeton University | November 1 | January 1 |
| University of Virginia | November 1 | January 5 |
| University of Michigan | October 1 | February 1 |
| Notre Dame | November 1 | January 3 |
After you’ve submitted your early application, you’ll get one of three decisions from the admissions office: acceptance, rejection, or deferral.
A deferral means that the admissions committee hasn’t made a final decision on your application yet. Your application will be considered again in the regular decision round, and you’ll be notified of the final outcome in the spring: acceptance, rejection, or waitlist.
Statistically, most deferred applicants will not be admitted, so a deferral can be a disappointing outcome, but there are steps you can take to try to maximize your chances after a deferral.
Early action is not binding, so you’re not making a commitment to attend a certain school just by applying early. (Note that this is different from early decision, which is a separate process.)
This means that after applying early action to one or more schools, you can still apply in the regular decision round to as many schools as you want, no matter what the outcome of your early application was.
One advantage of this is that, if you’re accepted early, you can save the money and time involved in applying to a longer list of schools — and if you’re not accepted, you can still apply to more schools in the regular decision round.
Does Early Action Really Help You Get In?
Fewer applicants apply during the early action round, and a higher percentage of applicants tend to be accepted than during regular decision. Because of that, early action is known as a way to boost your chances of admission.
To evaluate that claim, let’s start by breaking down admissions data from a couple of the top schools that offer early action and that publicly report their admissions statistics.
- At the University of Virginia, one of the country’s top-ranked public universities, the acceptance rate for early-action applicants in 2022-23 was 32%. Compared to the overall acceptance rate of only 19%, this is a big jump – especially when you consider that that 19% figure also includes the students who got in early.
- Last year, for the Class of 2028, Harvard’s early acceptance rate was 8.74%, compared to a Regular Decision rate of 2.70%
- At Notre Dame, 15% of Class of 2028 early applicants were accepted last year, compared to 8.6% in Regular Decision.
Clearly, acceptance rates in the early action round can be higher than for the regular decision round, sometimes significantly.
There are a few “buts,” though.
For one thing, the early application pool may be stronger overall than the applications that come in during regular decision. Since early action means applying several months earlier than the regular deadline, applicants who choose early action might be more committed and prepared than those in the overall applicant pool.
It’s also important to remember that the early action “boost” will only apply if your application is already strong enough to meet or exceed the school’s expectations. If your GPA and standardized test scores are well below the average for admitted students at your school of choice, then applying early action will unlikely give you enough of an advantage to make up for that.
If you’re aiming for a school that typically admits applicants with a higher GPA or test scores than yours, working with a tutor to boost your application can be a smart move. At PrepMaven, SAT tutoring students typically see a score increase of 100-300 points after a few months of tutoring.
That’s huge – and can make the difference between rejection and acceptance at your dream school.
If you’re applying under restrictive early action, meaning that you can only choose one school to apply to early, this is especially important to consider: you want to make sure that you use your early action slot on a school where you have a realistic chance of admission.
That said, if you’re aiming at a highly selective school, acceptance rates in the regular decision round can be so low that early action may feel like the only realistic shot at admission.
At Princeton University, in the last year for which the school published admissions stats (they no longer release them publicly), the early action acceptance rate was 15.5%, compared to just 6% in the regular decision round.
What Does Restrictive Early Action Mean?
Some schools implement what’s known as restrictive or single-choice early action. That means that if you apply early action to that institution, you pledge not to apply early to any other college or university.
Only a small handful of schools practice restrictive early action: in 2024, the only top-50 institutions with restrictive EA programs are Princeton, Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Caltech, and Notre Dame.
If you apply under restrictive early action, you’re sending a strong signal to the school that it’s your top choice. That can help your chances, since universities aim to maintain a high yield — meaning that a high proportion of accepted students choose to attend.
Of course, the drawback of restrictive early action is that it narrows your early application options — and any admissions advantage that comes with applying early — to just one school. If you want to maximize your chances of admission and you don’t have your heart set on one particular school, then restrictive early action may not be the best fit for you.
There’s one major loophole, though: restrictive early action at a private college or university does not apply to state schools.
That means that, for example, you could apply to Princeton under restrictive early action and still apply to the University of Virginia’s early action program at the same time. Then, if you’re not accepted to Princeton early but do get an offer of admission from UVA, you’ll still have a spot at a great school lined up as early as January.
When Should You Consider Early Action?
Early action could be a good option for you if:
- You already know that one school is your top choice and want to wait for a decision from that institution before applying to lots of backup schools.
- You’ve had time to produce a great application by the earlier deadline (including securing letters of recommendation and any supplementary materials, like an arts supplement).
- Your GPA and test scores are in line with or above the average for admitted students at your top-choice school.
- You know you’ll feel less stressed if you have one application off your desk by October or November.
Early action might not be ideal for you if:
- You need more time to research schools and make a list of colleges that would be a good fit.
- You want to use your senior fall semester to raise your grades and test scores to have a better chance at your goal schools.
- You feel rushed preparing an application in time for the early deadline and want time to make your application as strong as possible.
Does Early Action Have a Downside?
When applying early action, there are a few pitfalls to keep in mind.
It can be tempting to pin all your hopes on your early application, especially if you’re applying under restrictive early action to just one top-choice school. After spending months building up to early decision day, a rejection or deferral can feel crushing.
This can be particularly tough because many schools release their early action decisions in mid-December, just a few weeks ahead of deadlines for the regular application round.
When you’re reeling from a disappointing decision from your dream school, working on your backup applications is probably the last thing you want to do.
That’s why, if you apply early action, it’s important to remember that there are many more options still open to you in the regular decision round if you don’t get the result you want.
On a practical level, it’s essential to start preparing your regular-decision applications before you get a decision on your early application. In the best-case scenario, you won’t even have to submit them — and if you do, it will save you from scrambling to finish your applications at the last minute.
It’s also important to make sure that you feel ready to submit your early application. True, applying early to your dream school can give you an advantage. But if your application is rushed and doesn’t reflect what you’re capable of, it will ultimately hurt your chances.
What Does Early Action Mean for Financial Aid?
If you apply early action, you’ll apply for financial aid as normal. If accepted, you’ll receive a financial aid offer from the school.
Because early action is not binding, you still have the option to apply to other schools in the regular decision round and compare your financial aid packages.
In other words, if you get into your top choice school through early action, but the financial aid the school offers isn’t viable or satisfactory for you, then you’re under no obligation to accept your spot. You can weigh your options and choose to attend any school where you’ve been accepted.
Next Steps
Ready to take the next steps on your applications? An experienced tutor can support you with your application materials step by step until you’re ready to submit.
As Ivy League grads, PrepMaven tutors have experience navigating the application process both firsthand and as academic, SAT, and essay tutors.
Reach out to our team to schedule a free consultation!
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Ro
Rosamond graduated summa cum laude from Princeton. During college, she worked as a peer tutor for Italian, French, Greek, and academic writing. Since graduation, she’s continued to tutor students of all ages in French, Italian, Latin, English, and math, some of them for several years. She’s currently a graduate student studying the relationship between religion and secular law, and she works as a freelance journalist and translator.