The five plans
For the 2026-27 cycle, only Early Decision and Early Decision II bind you to enroll. Most early deadlines fall on 1 November 2026, ED II and Regular Decision close in early January 2027, and early answers come in mid-December.
| Plan | Binding? | How many colleges | Typical 2026-27 deadline | Decision |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early Decision (ED) | Yes | Only one | 1 November | Mid-December |
| Early Decision II (ED II) | Yes | Only one | 1 January | Mid-February |
| Early Action (EA) | No | Several | 1 November | December or January |
| Restrictive or Single-Choice Early Action (REA, SCEA) | No | One early plan at private colleges | 1 November | Mid-December |
| Regular Decision (RD) | No | All | 1 to 5 January | Late March |
Early Decision: the commitment
Three people sign the ED agreement on the Common App: you, a parent or guardian, and your school counselor. If you are admitted, you withdraw your other applications and start no new ones. NACAC, the national association of counselors and admissions officers, treats holding more than one ED as unethical.
ED II works the same way, with a January deadline. Vanderbilt, Emory and NYU, for example, offer both rounds.
Early Decision when you need aid
If you need aid, Early Decision needs the most care: know the college's aid policy, and know when the ED agreement lets you go if the aid offered does not make enrollment possible.
Applying from abroad, also ask for aid when you apply, and check the college's aid policy for international students.
- Ask for aid when you apply. At Stanford, international students who say they will not apply for aid and are admitted cannot apply for aid at any time in their four years. Yale asks international students to apply for aid once, at the time of admission.
- Know the college's policy. At need-blind colleges that meet full need, such as Harvard, MIT, Yale, Dartmouth and Bowdoin, asking for aid does not affect the decision. At need-aware colleges, it can.
- The release clause. NACAC says a college should release an ED student whose aid does not make enrollment possible. Dartmouth and Brown say the same on their own pages. The Common App agreement also says that if you applied for aid, you need not withdraw other applications until the ED college tells you about your aid.
Use ED only for a clear first choice whose aid policy you already know.
Early Action, REA and SCEA
Early Action does not bind you. MIT, for example, sets no limit on where else you apply and does not require you to enroll if admitted.
Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Stanford use a restricted version, REA or SCEA. It does not bind you either, but it rules out early applications to other private colleges.
| With REA or SCEA you can | With REA or SCEA you cannot |
|---|---|
| Apply early, non-binding, to public universities | Apply ED, EA or REA to another private college |
| Apply to colleges with non-binding rolling admission | Apply ED or another binding early plan to a public university |
| Apply ED II elsewhere if you are deferred or denied early (Harvard, Yale and Stanford) | Reapply in Regular Decision if you are denied early (Yale and Stanford) |
Regular Decision
Most selective colleges close regular applications between 1 and 5 January. Decisions arrive in late March, in mid-March at MIT and in early April at Stanford. You answer by 1 May.
Which to choose
Use Early Decision only for a clear first choice whose aid policy you already know. Early Action and Regular Decision keep your options open until 1 May 2027.
- ED: you have a clear first choice, and your family can pay or the college meets full need.
- EA: you want an early answer with no commitment.
- REA or SCEA: your first choice is Harvard, Yale, Princeton or Stanford, and you accept no other early plans at private colleges.
- RD: you need more time, or you want to compare aid offers before deciding.