Early Action Colleges Admissions Deadlines 2024

Last updated on December 14th, 2023 at 12:21 pm

Admission in US Universities for undergraduate programs start in early August. Admissions deadlines are normally in the months of November and in January. The admissions cycle for US Universities has three major categories. Admissions are offered as Early Action or Early decision, Regular Admissions and Rolling admissions. The first type is that of Early Actions and Early Decision. Normally these two terms refer to the different types of admissions, but majority of the major universities use these two terms alternatively and deadlines for these types of admissions are also the same normally.

When are Early Action Deadlines 2024?

Early Admissions normally have two deadlines: Early Action One (EA1) and Early Action Two (EA2). The EA1 deadline is normally November 1, while the EA2 deadline is typically November 15. Some schools, however, list their early action deadline as December 1 Early Action or Early Decision Admissions normally start in August and their deadline is normally November 15.

Early Action offer students the chance to confirm whether they can be accepted into their preferred schools before regular admissions starts, hence giving you more of the options and time to plan your admissions. It gives you a chance or prepare early and be ready for the upcoming cycle, which is regular Admissions. Students admitted to the university do not required to attend the school. You are required to provide the school with your final decision before the National College Day.

What Colleges Offer Early Action Admissions? 

Most of the schools offer Early Admissions but not all. Major school, which are competitive and have large number of applicants, offer early decision admission or both. Schools and colleges that are less competitive (or larger) may only offer early action. Some schools even offer restrictive early actions, which is, if you apply to a particular school on early admissions, you cannot apply to this school on early admissions. This is because they want to keep the things simple for them and would like fewer students to drop out after admission confirmation. 

Early decisions admissions also offer a chance to the students to verify their admissions status before the regular admissions. However, if you are selected through early decisions, you are required to attend the school. In early actions, commitment to enroll is not required.

As mentioned earlier, most of the universities and colleges treat Early Actions and Early Decisions Admissions terms are used synonymously and their deadline is same, however, some of the colleges and schools treat these differently. 

However, certain schools in US, such as Harvard College and Princeton University, for instance, have single-choice early action. It is also sometimes referred as restrictive early action, which requires you to choose from one of the two options for Early Admissions only. It means, if you apply to Harvard on Early Admissions, then you cannot apply to Princeton on Early Admissions, however, you will still be able to Princeton on Regular admissions and to other universities and colleges on early admissions basis.

What is EA Acceptance Rate?

Acceptance Rate of Early Action admissions is normally higher than regular admissions. This is because students who are more serious about the admissions, apply to early action. Hence fewer and above average students applying on EA options, means their chances of admissions will be higher than other. Hence, EA could be the best option for you if you want to get admitted to your preferred school/college. Also, it gives you more time and options to find out the best suitable option. Hence, those who apply on EA, are always in better position as compared to those who don’t.

When do Early Admission Action Decisions Come Out?

Early Action Decision comes out in December OR January normally. In most of the cases, applicants are informed at the end of December. In all the cases, EA applicants are informed about the decision before the regular admissions.

Most early action and early decision notifications come out within a month or two of

Complete List of schools and Colleges Early Action Deadlines 2024