US college application deadlines for fall 2027: ED, EA and RD

Regular Decision deadlines

Regular Decision (RD) is the standard round. These are the RD deadlines from each college’s own pages for fall 2027 entry. For Common App applications, each ends at 11:59pm on that date in your own time zone.

At USC, applicants to performing arts majors must apply Regular Decision, by Tuesday 1 December 2026.

Early Decision II deadlines

Early Decision II (ED II) is a second round of Early Decision (ED), which is binding: if you’re admitted, you commit to enrolling. At these six colleges the deadline is in early January 2027 and decisions come in February:

What each plan means

• Early Action (EA) lets you apply early and get a decision before the regular round. It’s non-binding: if you’re admitted, you don’t have to enrol. MIT and USC also describe their Early Action as non-restrictive.
• Restrictive Early Action (REA), which Yale and Princeton call single-choice early action (SCEA), is non-binding too. The difference is that the college limits your other early applications (see “Applying early to more than one college” below).
• Early Decision (ED) is binding. You commit to enrolling if you’re admitted. You can apply to other colleges, but to only one college ED, and if you’re admitted you must withdraw your other applications.
• Early Decision II (ED II) is a second Early Decision round, with an early January deadline at the six colleges in the Early Decision II table above and decisions in February. Johns Hopkins and Emory both say their two ED rounds are binding.
• Regular Decision (RD) is the standard round. At the colleges in the Regular Decision table above it closes between Friday 1 and Tuesday 5 January 2027, with decisions from mid-March to April. MIT calls it Regular Action.

Early deadlines for fall 2027

These first-round deadlines for fall 2027 entry, from each college’s own admissions pages, have passed: they were on Sunday 1 or Monday 2 November 2026. They stay here with each college’s decision dates, and some colleges set a later date for other materials, as shown. Most pages print the day and month without a year, so the years shown are the 2026–27 cycle’s. A time is shown where the college states one.

Applying early to more than one college

Restrictive plans limit your other early applications. Each college words its rules differently, so read them in full before you choose. In short:

• Harvard (REA): no other early plan at a private college, and no binding early plan at a public university. Non-binding early plans at public universities, military academies and universities outside the US are allowed.
• Yale (SCEA): no other Early Action or Early Decision, with exceptions including non-binding early plans at public institutions, institutions outside the US, and ED or EA plans that notify after 1 January.
• Princeton (SCEA): no early plan at another private US college. Non-binding early plans at public institutions, service academies and institutions outside the US are allowed.
• Stanford (REA): no early plan at another private US college, Early Notification included, and no binding early plan at a public university.
• Caltech (REA): no Early Action or Early Decision anywhere else, with exceptions including non-binding plans at public institutions, institutions outside the US, and military academies.
• Georgetown (EA): non-binding, but you may not apply to any binding Early Decision plan elsewhere. Other non-binding Early Action plans are allowed.
• Early Decision: you can apply ED to only one college at a time. Brown also asks ED applicants not to apply under another ED, single-choice or restrictive early action plan.

The Early Decision agreement

If you apply Early Decision through the Common App, you also complete an Early Decision agreement, and a parent fills out part of it. Brown and Johns Hopkins say it’s signed by you, a parent or guardian, and your school counsellor.

• It commits you to enrolling if you’re admitted and to withdrawing your other applications. Columbia adds that you may submit no further college applications.
• Columbia’s stated exception is money: it releases students who, after consulting its financial aid office, give financial reasons for not attending.

Because ED binds you before you see other offers, read the agreement with your family and check the college’s aid process first. See also need-blind colleges for international students.

What time a deadline ends

• For applications sent through the Common App, a deadline ends at 11:59pm on that date in your own local time zone, not the college’s time zone.
• The Common App Dashboard shows deadline dates, and timestamps submitted applications, in US Eastern Time. If you’re behind Eastern Time and see a “Deadline has passed” message, Common App says you can still submit by 11:59pm your local time. If you’re ahead of US Eastern Time (Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia), your deadline ends before the Dashboard’s Eastern Time date does.
• MIT uses its own application, not the Common App, and Georgetown accepts its own or the Common App; neither page states a time. Where no time is given, don’t leave it to the last evening.

University of California: UC’s dates pages list no early plan. Its one filing period for fall 2027 opened on Thursday 1 October and closes on Monday 30 November 2026, with no time of day stated, and decisions come in March 2027 (some campuses may release them earlier). See the UC guide.