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Early Decision II is a second binding round. It works like early decision, with the same commitment to enroll if admitted, but the deadline falls in early January and the answer comes in February.
Most applicants meet it in mid-December, a few days after an early result that did not go their way. This guide explains the rules, the dates, who it suits and how to decide in the two or three weeks you will have.
What is Early Decision II?
| Round | Binding? | Typical deadline | Typical decision |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early Decision I | Yes | November 1 or 15 | Mid-December |
| Early Decision II | Yes | January 1 to 15 | Mid-February |
| Early Action | No | November 1 or 15 | December to January |
| Regular Decision | No | January 1 to 15 | March to early April |
ED II is binding. If you are admitted, and the financial aid offer makes attending possible, you enroll and withdraw every other application. You, a parent or guardian and your counselor all sign the early decision agreement, exactly as in the first round.
The only real differences from ED I are the calendar and the context. The deadline is usually between January 1 and January 15, often the same day as regular decision, and decisions arrive around mid-February. You apply knowing your first-semester senior grades and, for many students, knowing how an earlier application turned out.
Who should apply Early Decision II
It does not suit you if you need to compare financial aid offers from several colleges before choosing, or if the college is simply the most selective one left on your list. Binding means you are done if it works, so it has to be a college you want, not one you are settling a score with.
- You applied ED I or restrictive early action somewhere else and were denied or deferred, and there is a second college you would be glad to attend.
- You found your first choice late, after November 1 had passed.
- Your fall grades or a late test score make your application clearly stronger than it was in October.
- You were not ready in November: the essay was not finished, or you had not visited or researched enough to commit.
ED II rules people get wrong
- One binding application at a time. You can only apply ED II once your ED I college has released you, which happens when it denies or defers you. Read the deferral letter: at most colleges a deferred ED application becomes non-binding, and that is what frees you.
- You can keep your regular decision and early action applications open while ED II is pending. You withdraw them only if the ED II college admits you.
- If you were deferred by your ED I college and are then admitted ED II elsewhere, you must withdraw the deferred application too.
- If the financial aid offer does not make attendance possible, you can ask to be released from the agreement. Run the college's net price calculator before you apply, not after.
- Some colleges let you switch a regular decision application to ED II for a short time after the deadline. It is a form in the applicant portal or an email to admissions, and the date varies by college.
Which colleges offer ED II
ED II is offered mostly by selective private universities and liberal arts colleges. None of the eight Ivy League universities offers it, and neither do colleges that use restrictive early action, such as Stanford and Notre Dame.
Among the colleges whose supplemental essays we cover, these have offered an ED II round in recent cycles. Deadlines move a little each year and a few colleges add or drop the round, so confirm the date on the college's own admissions page before you plan around it.
- Universities: Vanderbilt, UChicago, Johns Hopkins, Rice, Carnegie Mellon, Tufts, Boston College, Wake Forest, Villanova.
- Liberal arts colleges: Swarthmore, Bowdoin, Wellesley, Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, Davidson, Washington and Lee, Grinnell, Macalester, Occidental.
ED II timeline: December to February
- 1Mid-December: early results arrive. Give yourself a day before deciding anything.
- 2The same week: reread your list. Is there a college you would choose over every remaining option? If not, ED II is not for you this year, and regular decision is a perfectly good route.
- 3Before the holidays: tell your counselor. They sign the ED agreement and send your mid-year grades, and school offices close for the break.
- 4Late December: write or rewrite that college's supplements, and reread your personal essay with fresh eyes.
- 5January 1 to 15: submit, selecting Early Decision II as the round, and complete the ED agreement. Keep submitting your regular decision applications as planned.
- 6Mid-February: the decision. If admitted, withdraw all other applications promptly and pay the deposit by the college's date.
What changes in your essays for ED II
After much reflection, I have realized that your college's outstanding academics and vibrant community make it the perfect place for me.
I sat in on Professor Okafor's environmental economics seminar in October, and the argument about carbon pricing has not left me alone since. I want four years of that kind of disagreement.
Your Common App personal essay stays the same. Colleges that already have your application keep the version you sent, and you can still improve it for colleges you have not submitted to yet.
The supplements carry more weight than usual. A binding application says the college is your first choice, and the why-us essay is where a reader checks whether that is believable. A supplement adapted in an hour from another college's version tends to show: generic praise, programs any university has, and now and then the wrong name.
Questions
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