Class of 2025 Early Decision Notification Dates
Early Decision and Early Action Notification Dates for the 2020-21 Application Season
The college admissions season is flying by, and before you know it early admission decisions will be released. Here’s our annual list of early decision notification dates!
This year’s college admissions cycle has been characterized by several changes brought about by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Many colleges have temporarily moved to test-optional admissions due to SAT/ACT cancellations, while others have extended their deadlines to give applicants more time to compile their applications. Although some elements of this year’s application process may feel a bit different, the anticipation surrounding decision notification dates remains high.
Early Decision and Early Action Trends
In a college admissions cycle marked by unusual circumstances, students can expect that colleges will get creative when it comes to admitting the first members of the class of 2025. For example, Tulane University released early decisions almost a month ahead of schedule, and in those acceptances, a number of students were admitted to the spring 2022 term. While those students are not obligated to attend like those who applied ED and were admitted for fall 2021, their decision is final and they won’t be able to switch their enrollment to the fall 2021 term. This is one sign that colleges are approaching the decision and enrollment process a little differently this year in order to manage their yield (the percentage of admitted students who enroll) and account for a fall class that might be larger than normal because of students who deferred from the previous admissions cycle.
In a year with an unprecedented number of test-optional and flexible admissions policies due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the University of Georgia gave us a first look at how optional test-optional really was this year. According to the UGA admissions office, 30% of early action admits did not submit an SAT or ACT score.
When Do Early Action Decisions Come Out?
Time crunch for other applications: Most colleges do not notify ED and EA applicants of admission until 15th December. Because of the usual deadlines for applications, this means that if a student is rejected by the ED college, there are only two weeks left to send in other applications.
At IvyWise, we aim to relieve some of the stress commonly associated with the college admissions process, and that includes bringing you the most updated information on early decision release dates every year. Our annual release date list is the most comprehensive and updated daily as new information becomes available. Be sure to check the links provided within the list for the most recent dates and information.
Here are early application decision notification dates for the Class of 2025. Expect these dates to change as we draw closer to mid-December. Check back regularly for updated dates and times – especially for those without specific dates and times or those labeled “TBD.”
| School | Early Decision Notification Date |
| Amherst College | December 11, 2020 after 6 pm ET |
| Babson College | Mid-December |
| Barnard College | December 14, 2020 |
| Bates College | ED 1: December 20, 2020 |
| Boston College | ED I: December 3, 2020 |
| Boston University | December 14, 2020 |
| Bowdoin College | December 11, 2020 at 7 pm ET |
| Brandeis University | December 15, 2020 |
| Brown University | December 17, 2020 at 2 pm ET |
| Caltech | EA: December 13 |
| Carleton College | December 10, 2020 at 8:00pm CT |
| Carnegie Mellon University | December 12, 2020 at 9 am ET |
| Case Western Reserve University | ED I: December 7, 2020 EA: December 22, 2020 at 8 pm ET |
| Colorado College | December 16, 2020 at 4pm MT |
| Columbia University | December 15, 2020 after 7 pm ET |
| Cornell University | December 17, 2020 at 7 pm ET |
| Dartmouth College | December 16, 2020 in the afternoon |
| Davidson College | December 15, 2020 at 9 pm ET |
| Duke University | December 18, 2020 |
| Elon University | EA: December 18, 2020 |
| Emerson College | ED I: December 12, 2020 EA: December 12, 2020 |
| Emory University | ED I: December 9, 2020 at 6 pm ET |
| Fordham University | December 19, 2020 |
| George Mason University | December 11, 2020 |
| George Washington University | December 17, 2020 |
| Georgetown University | December 13, 2020 |
| Georgia Tech | EA 1: December 4 at 5 pm ET |
| Hamilton College | December 15 |
| Harvard University | December 17, 2020 at 7 pm ET |
| Harvey Mudd | December 11, 2020 at 6 pm PT |
| Johns Hopkins University | ED I: December 11, 2020 at 3:00 pm ET |
| Lehigh University | ED I: December 10, 2020 |
| Middlebury College | December 12, 2020 after 8 am ET |
| MIT | December 19, 2020 at 3:14 pm ET |
| New York University | December 15, 2020 |
| Northeastern University | December 9, 2020 |
| Northwestern University | December 18, 2020 |
| Oberlin College | December 15th |
| Occidental College | December 15th |
| Pomona College | January 1, 2020 |
| Princeton University | N/A |
| Rice University | December 10, 2020 after 5 pm CT |
| Stanford University | December 11, 2020 at 4 pm PT |
| Suffolk University | December 17 & 22, 2020 |
| Swarthmore College | ED I: December 15, 2020 at 7 pm ET |
| Texas Christian University (TCU) | EA: December 11, 2020 at 5 pm CT |
| Tufts University | December 15, 2020 at 7 pm ET |
| Tulane University | December 17, 2020 at 3:30pm CT |
| University of Chicago | December 21, 2020 in the afternoon |
| University of Georgia | Nov. 20, 2020 |
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Mid-February |
| University of Miami | ED: December 11, 2020 |
| University of Michigan | Late January |
| University of Notre Dame | December 16, 2020 at 6:42 pm ET |
| University of Pennsylvania | December 16, 2020 at 7 pm ET |
| University of Richmond | December 15th |
| University of San Francisco | EA: December 14, 2020 |
| University of Texas at Austin | EA: December 12, 2020 |
| University of Vermont | December 17th |
| University of Virginia | December 11, 2020 |
| Vanderbilt University | December 15, 2020 after 5 pm CT |
| Villanova University | December 15, 2020 after 5 pm ET EA: January 29, 2020 |
| Virginia Tech | By December 15th |
| Washington & Lee University | December 16, 2020 at 8 pm ET |
| Washington University in St. Louis | December 14, 2020 |
| Wellesley College | December 12, 2020 at 10 am ET |
| Wesleyan University | ED 1: December 12, 2020 |
| William & Mary | December 7, 2020 at 5 pm ET |
| Williams College | December 11, 2020 |
| Worcester Polytechnic Institute | December 14, 2020 at 5 pm ET |
| Yale University | December 16, 2020 after 5 pm ET |
See a school we left out or an updated release date we haven’t included yet? Tell us in the comments below and we will add it to our list!