Early Decision Enrollment
When weighing the pros and cons of applying Early Decision, most applicants focus primarily on the differential between the admissions rates of the early and regular rounds. Early Decision admit rates are typically higher, even when accounting for the fact that many athletes, legacy, and other “special” candidates are brought aboard via ED. However, another important factor that should be informing applicants’ decisions is the percentage of the total freshman class being admitted through Early Decision. For example, elite liberal arts schools Middlebury and Davidson have already filled over 60% of their incoming classes by December; for Bates this figure is over 70%. On the other end of the spectrum, Carnegie Mellon only fills 21% of their class through ED; Northeastern sits at a mere 12%. The rub is that if you are applying to a school like Colby, there are not many seats left at the table by the regular round. Below is College Transitions’ list of Early Decision enrollment data that will help you make a more informed choice about when to apply to your dream school.
Data was collected from various institution websites and indicates first-time (i.e. freshman) students enrolling in Fall 2017.
| Institution | Total Admits | Regular Decision Admits | Early Decision Admits | Yield (Incoming Class) | Early Decision Admits (as % of Total Admits) | Early Decision Admits (as % of Incoming Class) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agnes Scott College | 1,006 | 984 | 22 | 251 | 2.2% | 8.8% |
| Alfred University | 2,237 | 2,189 | 48 | 418 | 2.1% | 11.5% |
| Allegheny College | 3,472 | 3,390 | 82 | 481 | 2.4% | 17.0% |
| American University | 5,498 | 4,739 | 759 | 1,780 | 13.8% | 42.6% |
| Amherst College | 1,198 | 1,025 | 173 | 471 | 14.4% | 36.7% |
| Augustana College (IL) | 3,976 | 3,944 | 32 | 735 | 0.8% | 4.4% |
| Austin College | 1,849 | 1,845 | 4 | 332 | 0.2% | 1.2% |
| Babson College | 1,722 | 988 | 163 | 550 | 9.5% | 29.6% |
| Bard College | 2,865 | 2,841 | 24 | 470 | 0.8% | 5.1% |
| Barnard College | 1,190 | 901 | 289 | 595 | 24.3% | 48.6% |
| Bates College | 1,166 | 817 | 349 | 494 | 29.9% | 70.6% |
| Beloit College | 2,915 | 2,887 | 28 | 323 | 1.0% | 8.7% |
| Birmingham Southern College | 1,583 | 1,563 | 20 | 358 | 1.3% | 5.6% |
| Boston University | 15,273 | 14,044 | 1,229 | 3,498 | 8.0% | 35.1% |
| Bowdoin College | 988 | 742 | 246 | 501 | 24.9% | 49.1% |
| Brandeis University | 4,011 | 3,689 | 322 | 858 | 8.0% | 37.5% |
| Brown University | 2,779 | 2,110 | 669 | 1,639 | 24.1% | 40.8% |
| Bryn Mawr College | 1,116 | 762 | 145 | 354 | 13.0% | 41.0% |
| Bucknell University | 3,187 | 2,767 | 420 | 973 | 13.2% | 43.2% |
| Carleton College | 1,378 | 1,163 | 215 | 522 | 15.6% | 41.2% |
| Carnegie Mellon University | 4,550 | 4,204 | 346 | 1,676 | 7.6% | 20.6% |
| Catholic University | 5,015 | 4,933 | 82 | 830 | 1.6% | 9.9% |
| Centre College | 1,873 | 1,805 | 68 | 401 | 3.6% | 17.0% |
| Champlain College | 3,900 | 3,586 | 314 | 586 | 8.1% | 53.6% |
| Christopher Newport University | 5,030 | 4,706 | 324 | 1,293 | 6.4% | 25.1% |
| Claremont McKenna College | 658 | 451 | 207 | 352 | 31.5% | 58.8% |
| Clark University | 4,701 | 4,661 | 40 | 615 | 0.9% | 6.5% |
| Colby College | 1,767 | 1,491 | 276 | 552 | 15.6% | 50.0% |
| Colgate University | 2,404 | 2,030 | 374 | 771 | 15.6% | 48.5% |
| College of the Atlantic | 322 | 295 | 27 | 91 | 8.4% | 29.7% |
| College of the Holy Cross | 2,622 | 2,277 | 345 | 819 | 13.2% | 42.1% |
| College of William and Mary | 5,359 | 4,829 | 530 | 1,529 | 9.9% | 34.7% |
| Colorado College | 1,244 | 943 | 301 | 544 | 24.2% | 55.3% |
| Columbia University | 2,263 | 1,573 | 690 | 1,405 | 30.5% | 49.1% |
| Connecticut College | 2,063 | 1,846 | 217 | 444 | 10.5% | 48.9% |
| Cornell University | 5,962 | 4,569 | 1,393 | 3,349 | 23.4% | 41.6% |
| Dartmouth College | 2,093 | 1,528 | 565 | 1,217 | 27.0% | 46.4% |
| Davidson College | 1,148 | 829 | 319 | 519 | 27.8% | 61.5% |
| Dickinson College | 2,894 | 2,637 | 257 | 606 | 8.9% | 42.4% |
| Drew University | 2,033 | 1,938 | 95 | 371 | 4.7% | 25.6% |
| Duke University | 3,261 | 2,409 | 852 | 1,748 | 26.1% | 48.7% |
| Duquesne University | 5,260 | 5,182 | 78 | 1,558 | 1.5% | 5.0% |
| Earlham College | 1,452 | 1,407 | 45 | 287 | 3.1% | 15.7% |
| Elon University | 6,402 | 6,019 | 383 | 1,573 | 6.0% | 24.3% |
| Emory University | 5,234 | 4,556 | 678 | 1,388 | 13.0% | 48.8% |
| Fairfield University | 6,794 | 6,646 | 148 | 993 | 2.2% | 14.9% |
| Fordham University | 20,966 | 20,814 | 152 | 2,269 | 0.7% | 6.7% |
| Franklin & Marshall College | 2,292 | 1,946 | 346 | 645 | 15.1% | 53.6% |
| Furman University | 3,060 | 2,956 | 104 | 700 | 3.4% | 14.9% |
| George Washington University | 11,059 | 10,257 | 802 | 2,607 | 7.3% | 30.8% |
| Gettysburg College | 2,924 | 2,638 | 286 | 720 | 9.8% | 39.7% |
| Goucher College | 2,739 | 2,714 | 25 | 420 | 0.9% | 6.0% |
| Grinnell College | 1,689 | 1,492 | 197 | 447 | 11.7% | 44.1% |
| Hamilton College | 1,375 | 1,123 | 252 | 480 | 18.3% | 52.5% |
| Harvey Mudd College | 629 | 548 | 81 | 225 | 12.9% | 36.0% |
| Haverford College | 884 | 708 | 176 | 349 | 19.9% | 50.4% |
| Hobart and William Smith Colleges | 2,696 | 2,376 | 320 | 631 | 11.9% | 50.7% |
| Hollins University | 1,375 | 1,370 | 5 | 155 | 0.4% | 3.2% |
| Ithaca College | 9,980 | 9,829 | 151 | 1,622 | 1.5% | 9.3% |
| Johns Hopkins University | 3,115 | 2,527 | 588 | 1,345 | 18.9% | 43.7% |
| Kalamazoo College | 2,520 | 2,487 | 33 | 449 | 1.3% | 7.3% |
| Kenyon College | 1,896 | 1,667 | 229 | 453 | 12.1% | 50.6% |
| Knox College | 2,305 | 2,278 | 27 | 354 | 1.2% | 7.6% |
| Lafayette College | 2,609 | 2,274 | 335 | 680 | 12.8% | 49.3% |
| Lake Forest College | 2,280 | 2,252 | 28 | 357 | 1.2% | 7.8% |
| Lehigh University | 3,489 | 2,820 | 669 | 1,234 | 19.2% | 54.2% |
| Lewis & Clark College | 4,500 | 4,448 | 52 | 525 | 1.2% | 9.9% |
| Loyola Marymount University | 8,072 | 7,970 | 102 | 1,445 | 1.3% | 7.1% |
| Loyola University Maryland | 8,733 | 8,664 | 69 | 1,021 | 0.8% | 6.8% |
| Macalester College | 2,394 | 2,253 | 141 | 543 | 5.9% | 26.0% |
| Miami University | 20,635 | 19,927 | 708 | 3,817 | 3.4% | 18.5% |
| Middlebury College | 1,522 | 1,119 | 403 | 634 | 26.5% | 63.6% |
| Morehouse College | 1,748 | 1,687 | 61 | 617 | 3.5% | 9.9% |
| Mount Holyoke College | 1,752 | 1,580 | 172 | 529 | 9.8% | 32.5% |
| Muhlenberg College | 2,242 | 1,953 | 289 | 564 | 12.9% | 51.2% |
| Northeastern University | 14,876 | 14,515 | 361 | 3,108 | 2.4% | 11.6% |
| Northwestern University | 3,442 | 2,412 | 1,030 | 1,903 | 29.9% | 54.1% |
| Oberlin College | 2,617 | 2,371 | 246 | 728 | 9.4% | 33.8% |
| Occidental College | 2,831 | 2,681 | 150 | 564 | 5.3% | 26.6% |
| Pitzer College | 569 | 447 | 122 | 268 | 21.4% | 45.5% |
| Pomona College | 756 | 548 | 208 | 412 | 27.5% | 50.5% |
| Providence College | 5,797 | 5,478 | 319 | 1,063 | 5.5% | 30.0% |
| Quinnipiac University | 16,305 | 16,160 | 145 | 1,963 | 0.9% | 7.4% |
| Ramapo College of New Jersey | 3,840 | 3,700 | 140 | 912 | 3.6% | 15.4% |
| Reed College | 2,014 | 1,836 | 178 | 413 | 8.8% | 43.1% |
| Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | 8,420 | 7,904 | 516 | 1,663 | 6.1% | 31.0% |
| Rhodes College | 2,416 | 2,319 | 97 | 513 | 4.0% | 18.9% |
| Rice University | 2,864 | 2,535 | 329 | 1,048 | 11.5% | 31.4% |
| Rollins College | 3,384 | 3,204 | 180 | 530 | 5.3% | 34.0% |
| Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame | 1,432 | 1,397 | 35 | 362 | 2.4% | 9.7% |
| Santa Clara University | 8,067 | 7,801 | 266 | 1,402 | 3.3% | 19.0% |
| Sarah Lawrence College | 1,842 | 1,692 | 150 | 393 | 8.9% | 38.2% |
| Scripps College | 950 | 837 | 113 | 327 | 11.9% | 34.6% |
| Sewanee: University of the South | 1,971 | 1,855 | 116 | 448 | 5.9% | 25.9% |
| Siena College | 5,937 | 5,888 | 49 | 776 | 0.8% | 6.3% |
| Skidmore College | 2,465 | 2,120 | 345 | 661 | 14.0% | 52.2% |
| Smith College | 1,731 | 1,438 | 293 | 639 | 16.9% | 45.9% |
| Southern Methodist University | 6,402 | 6,136 | 266 | 1,421 | 4.2% | 18.7% |
| Southwestern University | 1,783 | 1,763 | 20 | 362 | 1.1% | 5.5% |
| Spelman College | 3,342 | 3,237 | 105 | 546 | 3.1% | 19.2% |
| St. Lawrence University | 2,835 | 2,565 | 270 | 698 | 9.5% | 38.7% |
| St. Olaf College | 2,571 | 2,348 | 223 | 786 | 8.7% | 28.4% |
| Stonehill College | 4,515 | 4,440 | 75 | 667 | 1.7% | 11.2% |
| SUNY, Geneseo | 6,360 | 6,139 | 221 | 1,333 | 3.5% | 16.6% |
| Swarthmore College | 1,004 | 805 | 199 | 392 | 19.8% | 50.8% |
| Texas Christian University | 8,110 | 7,748 | 362 | 1,949 | 4.5% | 18.6% |
| The College of New Jersey | 6,130 | 5,688 | 442 | 1,541 | 7.2% | 28.7% |
| The College of Wooster | 3,169 | 3,053 | 116 | 568 | 3.7% | 20.4% |
| Trinity College | 2,061 | 1,746 | 315 | 580 | 15.3% | 54.3% |
| Trinity University | 2,946 | 2,882 | 64 | 642 | 2.2% | 10.0% |
| Tufts University | 3,127 | 2,422 | 705 | 1,410 | 29.1% | 50.0% |
| Tulane University | 7,657 | 7,156 | 501 | 1,905 | 6.5% | 26.3% |
| Union College | 2,495 | 2,239 | 256 | 570 | 10.3% | 44.9% |
| University of Denver | 11,554 | 11,386 | 168 | 1,483 | 1.5% | 11.3% |
| University of Mary Washington | 4,393 | 4,285 | 108 | 932 | 2.5% | 11.6% |
| University of Miami | 10,936 | 10,327 | 609 | 2,185 | 5.6% | 27.9% |
| University of Pennsylvania | 3,757 | 2,403 | 1,354 | 2,456 | 36.0% | 55.1% |
| University of Puget Sound | 4,997 | 4,893 | 104 | 590 | 2.1% | 17.6% |
| University of Richmond | 3,301 | 2,968 | 333 | 799 | 10.1% | 41.7% |
| University of Rochester | 5,986 | 5,581 | 405 | 1,429 | 6.8% | 28.3% |
| University of San Francisco | 10,707 | 10,654 | 53 | 1,531 | 0.5% | 3.5% |
| Vanderbilt University | 3,415 | 2,552 | 863 | 1,606 | 25.3% | 53.7% |
| Vassar College | 1,842 | 1,568 | 274 | 625 | 14.9% | 43.8% |
| Virginia Tech | 19,212 | 17,575 | 1,637 | 6,832 | 8.5% | 24.0% |
| Wabash College | 821 | 804 | 17 | 262 | 2.1% | 6.5% |
| Wake Forest University | 3,604 | 2,789 | 815 | 1,348 | 22.6% | 60.5% |
| Washington and Lee University | 1,200 | 932 | 268 | 471 | 22.3% | 56.9% |
| Washington University | 4,863 | 4,171 | 692 | 1,771 | 14.2% | 39.1% |
| Wellesley College | 1,251 | 1,003 | 248 | 605 | 19.8% | 41.0% |
| Wesleyan University | 2,013 | 1,574 | 439 | 761 | 21.8% | 57.7% |
| Wheaton College (MA) | 2,914 | 2,794 | 120 | 501 | 4.1% | 24.0% |
| Whitman College | 2,111 | 1,984 | 127 | 389 | 6.0% | 32.6% |
| Williams College | 1,253 | 996 | 257 | 548 | 20.5% | 46.9% |
| Wittenberg University | 5,232 | 4,762 | 470 | 539 | 9.0% | 87.2% |