I’ve finally finished compiling my admissions database with data on 361 ED and EA schools, so it’s time to do some analytics-just in time for most ED deadlines!
Unfortunately, I do not have data for Baylor, Colby, Hillsdale College, Howard University, Miami University-Ohio, NYU, Northeastern, Pepperdine, Trinity College, Tufts, or UChicago. UChicago is especially known for its relatively high ED admissions rates. u/GoldenHummingbird estimated that the ED acceptance rate is around 40%, its RD acceptance rate is around 2%, that they fill just under 72% of their class with ED. That would put it at #2 on the first and third lists below.
Another note: not all of these figures are from the same year. There’s a mix of 2027 and 2028 numbers. But acceptance rates have not moved significantly among the most competitive colleges. There are also a few schools (Hampton University, Hampden-Sydney College) ewhose data suggests they take all or almost all of their class ED, but I’d have to verify those.
Please comment if you have reliable sources for figures on class of 2027 (22-23 admissions cycle, entered fall 2023) or class of 2028 (23-24 admissions cycle, entered fall 2024) for any of the schools above, or if you find any mistakes below! If you’ve already applied ED, were you aware of this kind of data, and might it have influenced your decision?
Colleges with the highest ED admission rate relative to RD:
Note: this doesn’t necessarily mean you are more likely to get in ED. There are often recruited athletes and legacy students who take up a good segment of ED-admitted students.
Institution City State Overall acceptance rate ED acceptance rate RD acceptance rate ED advantage over RD Percent of class of 2027 filled ED US News National Universities 2025 US News National Liberal Arts Colleges Tulane University of Louisiana New Orleans LA 13.0% 68.1% 2.5% 26.8x 64% 63 University of Miami Coral Gables FL 19.0% 59.9% 4% 15.0x 42% 63 Barnard College New York NY 8% 27.1% 4.8% 5.6x 63% 14 Columbia University (College and SEAS) New York NY 3.9% 14.7% 2.8% 5.2x 58% 13 Dartmouth College Hanover NH 5.3% 17.0% 3.58% 4.8x 52% 15 Trinity University San Antonio TX 28.2% 54.2% 12.4% 4.4x 24% 40 Middlebury College Middlebury VT 10% 34.0% 8% 4.3x 70% 19 Vanderbilt University Nashville TN 5.1% 15.2% 3.7% 4.1x 54% 18 Grinnell College Grinnell IA 14.5% 41% 10% 4.1x 65% 19 Northwestern University Evanston IL 7.5% 22.5% 5.5% 4.1x 56% 6 Bates College Lewiston ME 13.1% 41.7% 10.2% 4.1x 67% 26 College of the Holy Cross Worcester MA 21.1% 67% 17% 3.9x 62% 28 Brown University Providence RI 5.2% 14.4% 3.8% 3.8x 52% 13 University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia PA 5.4% 16.7% 4.4% 3.8x 50% 10 Boston University Boston MA 10.9% 34.1% 9.5% 3.6x 57% 41 Spelman College Atlanta GA 34.1% 52.6% 16.3% 3.2x 18% 40 Williams College Williamstown MA 10% 27.0% 8.5% 3.2x 47% 1 Duke University Durham NC 5.1% 12.9% 4.1% 3.1x 46% 6 Davidson College Davidson SC 14.5% 35.2% 11.2% 3.1x 68% 14 Haverford College Haverford PA 12.9% 33.1% 10.7% 3.1x 55% 24 Amherst College Amherst MA 9.8% 27.1% 8.8% 3.1x 38% 2 Hamilton College Clinton NY 11.8% 30.2% 10.1% 3.0x 53% 14 Macalester College St. Paul MN 28% 46.3% 16% 2.9x 34% 26 Santa Clara University Santa Clara CA 47.0% 71.3% 25% 2.9x 30% 63 Emory University Atlanta GA 10.0% 24.8% 8.8% 2.8x 68% 24 Sewanee – The University of the South Sewanee TN 50.9% 69.7% 25% 2.8x 33% 45 Claremont McKenna College Claremont CA 11.1% 24.8% 8.9% 2.8x 63% 8 Cornell University Ithaca NY 7.9% 17.6% 6.3% 2.8x 47% 11 Wofford College Spartanburg SC 59% 86% 31% 2.8x 31% 66 Bowdoin College Brunswick ME 8.0% 17.6% 6.4% 2.7x 55% 5 Sacred Heart University Fairfield CT 68% 97% 36% 2.7x 12% 231 Boston College Chestnut Hill MA 14.7% 32.0% 12.0% 2.7x 57% 37 Swarthmore College Swarthmore PA 7.0% 15.9% 6.0% 2.7x 52% 3 Wesleyan University Middletown CT 17.1% 40.1% 15.2% 2.6x 58% 14 Wellesley College Wellesley MA 13.9% 30.2% 11.7% 2.6x 51% 7 Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis MO 12.0% 25.0% 9.7% 2.6x 63% 21 Texas Christian University Fort Worth TX 42.6% 58.7% 24.4% 2.4x 27% 105 Pitzer College Claremont CA 16.7% 33.4% 14.2% 2.3x 53% 36 Washington and Lee University Lexington VA 17.4% 34.5% 14.9% 2.3x 59% 19 Fairfield University Fairfield CT 45.0% 89.6% 39.8% 2.3x 16% 132 St. John’s College-Santa Fe, NM Santa Fe NM 49% 81% 36% 2.3x 28% 114 Hobart & William Smith Colleges Geneva NY 56.9% 90.1% 40.1% 2.2x 35% 74 Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester MA 58.5% 73.4% 33.3% 2.2x 16% 86 Rice University Houston TX 8.0% 15.3% 7.0% 2.2x 43% 18 Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles CA 40.3% 62.0% 28.4% 2.2x 24% 91 Babson College Babson Park MA 20% 32.7% 15% 2.2x 49% University of Virginia Charlottesville VA 16.3% 25.3% 11.7% 2.2x 26% 24 Pomona College Claremont CA 7% 12.5% 5.8% 2.2x 52% 5 Colgate University Hamilton NY 12.0% 22.9% 10.7% 2.1x 60% 22 Johns Hopkins University Baltimore MD 6.2% 13.6% 6.4% 2.1x 60% 6 Providence College Providence RI 48.7% 84% 39.7% 2.1x 36% Vassar College Poughkeepsie NY 17.7% 33% 16% 2.1x 49% 12 Centre College Danville KY 56% 72% 36% 2.0x 31% 59 Skidmore College Saratoga Springs NY 23% 41.7% 21.2% 2.0x 57% 36 Southern Methodist University Dallas TX 61.2% 74.3% 38.0% 2.0x 27% 91 Lehigh University Bethlehem PA 25.3% 52.7% 27.0% 2.0x 56% 46
Colleges with RD admission rates greater than or equal to ED
Numbers below 1.0 don’t mean it’s harder to get in through ED. It likely means that a large proportion were simply deferred to RD. It does mean, however, that if one is weighing whether to apply to any of these schools ED and doubts whether it would be the best fit, it’s probably not worth it.
Institution City State Overall acceptance rate ED acceptance rate RD acceptance rate ED advantage over RD Percent of class of 2027 filled ED US News National Universities 2025 US News National Liberal Arts Colleges DePauw University Greencastle IN 54% 27.9% 54% 0.5x 21% 50 Gettysburg College Gettysburg PA 48% 35.8% 49% 0.7x 42% 55 Whitman College Walla Walla WA 50.0% 37.9% 50.8% 0.7x 33% 53 College of the Atlantic Bar Harbor ME 68.6% 53.3% 69.7% 0.8x 20% 136 Lake Forest College Lake Forest IL 59% 49.3% 59% 0.8x 8% 77 Washington & Jefferson College Washington PA 81.5% 70.7% 81.7% 0.9x 9% 90 Case Western Reserve University Cleveland OH 28.7% 25.5% 28.7% 0.9x 15% 51 St. Mary’s College IN Notre Dame IN 81.1% 75.6% 81.5% 0.9x 23% 80 Juniata College Huntington PA 72% 67.4% 72% 0.9x 8% 90 St. John’s University-New York Queens NY 80% 76% 80% 1.0x 1% 152 Rollins College Winter Park FL 40.6% 41% 41% 1.0x 72% Dickinson College Carlisle PA 43.1% 44.0% 43.0% 1.0x 42% 45 Stetson University DeLand FL 86.4% 89% 87% 1.0x 15% Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Rochester NY 71.1% 73% 71% 1.0x 45% 91
Colleges that fill the largest proportion of their first-year class with ED
Institution City State Overall acceptance rate ED acceptance rate RD acceptance rate ED advantage over RD Percent of class of 2027 filled ED US News National Universities 2025 US News National Liberal Arts Colleges Rollins College Winter Park FL 40.6% 41% 41% 1.0x 72% NR NR Middlebury College Middlebury VT 10% 34.0% 8% 4.3x 70% 19 Emory University Atlanta GA 10.0% 24.8% 8.8% 2.8x 68% 24 Davidson College Davidson SC 14.5% 35.2% 11.2% 3.1x 68% 14 Bates College Lewiston ME 13.1% 41.7% 10.2% 4.1x 67% 26 Grinnell College Grinnell IA 14.5% 41% 10% 4.1x 65% 19 Tulane University of Louisiana New Orleans LA 13.0% 68.1% 2.5% 26.8x 64% 63 Barnard College New York NY 8% 27.1% 4.8% 5.6x 63% 14 Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis MO 12.0% 25.0% 9.7% 2.6x 63% 21 Bucknell University Lewisburg PA 32.0% 55.0% 29.2% 1.9x 63% 31 Claremont McKenna College Claremont CA 11.1% 24.8% 8.9% 2.8x 63% 8 College of the Holy Cross Worcester MA 21.1% 67% 17% 3.9x 62% 28 Johns Hopkins University Baltimore MD 6.2% 13.6% 6.4% 2.1x 60% 6 Colgate University Hamilton NY 12.0% 22.9% 10.7% 2.1x 60% 22 Washington and Lee University Lexington VA 17.4% 34.5% 14.9% 2.3x 59% 19 Columbia University (College and SEAS) New York NY 3.9% 14.7% 2.8% 5.2x 58% 13 Wesleyan University Middletown CT 17.1% 40.1% 15.2% 2.6x 58% 14 Boston College Chestnut Hill MA 14.7% 32.0% 12.0% 2.7x 57% 37 Boston University Boston MA 10.9% 34.1% 9.5% 3.6x 57% 41 Skidmore College Saratoga Springs NY 23% 41.7% 21.2% 2.0x 57% 36 Lehigh University Bethlehem PA 25.3% 52.7% 27.0% 2.0x 56% 46 Northwestern University Evanston IL 7.5% 22.5% 5.5% 4.1x 56% 6 Haverford College Haverford PA 12.9% 33.1% 10.7% 3.1x 55% 24 Denison University Granville OH 16.9% 22.0% 16.3% 1.3x 55% 36 Bowdoin College Brunswick ME 8.0% 17.6% 6.4% 2.7x 55% 5 Kenyon College Gambier OH 31% 40.9% 29.9% 1.4x 55% 45 Vanderbilt University Nashville TN 5.1% 15.2% 3.7% 4.1x 54% 18 Hamilton College Clinton NY 11.8% 30.2% 10.1% 3.0x 53% 14 Franklin & Marshall College Lancaster PA 32% 40.2% 31.1% 1.3x 53% 31 Pitzer College Claremont CA 16.7% 33.4% 14.2% 2.3x 53% 36 Brown University Providence RI 5.2% 14.4% 3.8% 3.8x 52% 13 Lafayette College Easton PA 31.5% 43.6% 30.4% 1.4x 52% 31 Swarthmore College Swarthmore PA 7.0% 15.9% 6.0% 2.7x 52% 3 Pomona College Claremont CA 7% 12.5% 5.8% 2.2x 52% 5 Morehouse College Atlanta GA 52% 71% 43% 1.7x 52% 95 Dartmouth College Hanover NH 5.3% 17.0% 3.58% 4.8x 52% 15 Wellesley College Wellesley MA 13.9% 30.2% 11.7% 2.6x 51% 7 University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia PA 5.4% 16.7% 4.4% 3.8x 50% 10 Vassar College Poughkeepsie NY 17.7% 33% 16% 2.1x 49% 12 Babson College Babson Park MA 20% 32.7% 15% 2.2x 49% University of Richmond Richmond VA 23.3% 37.8% 22.2% 1.7x 48% 22 Connecticut College New London CT 38.3% 51.0% 37.5% 1.4x 47% 55 Cornell University Ithaca NY 7.9% 17.6% 6.3% 2.8x 47% 11 Williams College Williamstown MA 10% 27.0% 8.5% 3.2x 47% 1 Villanova University Villanova PA 23.5% 49% 40% 1.2x 47% 58 Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr PA 31% 53.0% 28.7% 1.8x 47% 29 Brandeis University Waltham MA 35.3% 48.7% 34.3% 1.4x 47% 63 Smith College Northampton MA 19.7% 32.6% 18.4% 1.8x 47% 14 Muhlenberg College Allentown PA 64.0% 74.8% 64% 1.2x 47% 71 High Point University High Point NC 77% 87% 59% 1.5x 46% Duke University Durham NC 5.1% 12.9% 4.1% 3.1x 46% 6 Carleton College Northfield MN 22.3% 38.8% 20.5% 1.9x 46% 8 Harvey Mudd College Claremont CA 13.1% 17.8% 12.4% 1.4x 46% 12 Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Rochester NY 71.1% 73% 71% 1.0x 45% 91 Scripps College Claremont CA 33.9% 47.4% 32.7% 1.4x 43% 44 Occidental College Los Angeles CA 39.9% 52.2% 39.0% 1.3x 43% 34 Rice University Houston TX 8.0% 15.3% 7.0% 2.2x 43% 18 University of Rochester Rochester NY 35.9% 39.2% 35.6% 1.1x 43% 44 Mount Holyoke College South Hadley MA 38.3% 57.9% 36.5% 1.6x 43% 34 Stevens Institute of Technology Hoboken NJ 4.4% 55.4% 43% 1.3x 42% 76 University of Miami Coral Gables FL 19.0% 59.9% 4% 15.0x 42% 63 Dickinson College Carlisle PA 43.1% 44.0% 43.0% 1.0x 42% 45 Gettysburg College Gettysburg PA 48% 35.8% 49% 0.7x 42% 55 College of William and Mary Williamsburg VA 33.0% 45.5% 32% 1.4x 41% 54
Colleges that fill the smallest proportion of their class with ED
Instituion City State ED advantage over RD ED acceptance rate Percent of class of 2027 filled ED US News National Universities 2025 US News National Liberal Arts Colleges St. John’s University-New York Queens NY 1.0x 76% 1% 152 Longwood University Farmville VA 1.1x 89% 2% Ohio Wesleyan University Delaware OH 0.9x 45.0% 4% 119 Willamette University Salem OR 0.9x 61% 4% 77 Quinnipiac University Hamden CT 1.4x 89% 5% 179 Pace University New York NY 0.9x 66% 5% 266 University of San Francisco San Francisco CA 1.1x 47.5% 5% 109 Salve Regina University Newport RI 1.5x 78% 6% Saint Joseph’s University Philadelphia PA 0.9x 67% 6% Manhattan College Riverdale NY 1.3x 100% 7% Augustana College Rock Island IL 1.8x 98% 7% 100 Kalamazoo College Kalamazoo MI 1.2x 76% 7% 69 Monmouth University West Long Branch NJ 0.9x 77% 7% Agnes Scott College Decatur GA 1.3x 89.5% 7% 63 Ithaca College Ithaca NY 1.4x 78.7% 7% Ramapo College of New Jersey Mahwah NJ 1.3x 79% 7% Saint Anselm College Manchester NH 1.4x 88% 7% 90 Lake Forest College Lake Forest IL 0.8x 49.3% 8% 77 Juniata College Huntington PA 0.9x 67.4% 8% 90 College of Charleston Charleston SC 1.6x 85% 8% Chapman University Orange CA 1.4x 62.0% 8% 121 Nova Southeastern University Davie FL 0.8x 53% 9% 231 Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago IL 1.5x 68.1% 9% 105 Southwestern University Georgetown TX 1.3x 37.5% 9% 83 Fordham University New York NY 1.2x 68.3% 9% 91 Washington & Jefferson College Washington PA 0.9x 70.7% 9% 90 Florida Southern College Lakeland FL 1.4x 72% 9% Lewis & Clark College Portland OR 1.3x 85.9% 10% 103 University of Denver Denver CO 1.5x 82.5% 10% 121 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) Troy NY 1.2x 58.5% 10% 70 Drexel University Philadelphia PA 1.4x 90.4% 11% 86 Ursinus College Collegeville PA 1.3x 98% 11% 83 Allegheny College Meadville PA 0.5x 27.5% 11% 80 Hartwick College Oneonta NY 1.1x 77.8% 12% 136 St. John Fisher University Rochester NY 1.1x 76.8% 12% 179 Sacred Heart University Fairfield CT 2.7x 97% 12% 231 University of Vermont Burlington VT 1.9x 84% 12% 121 St. Mary’s College of Maryland St. Marys City MD 1.6x 94.8% 12% 100 Randolph-Macon College Ashland VA 1.3x 95% 13% 103 Moravian University Bethlehem PA 1.7x 93.1% 13% Lawrence University Appleton WI 1.9x 80.0% 13% 69 Marist College Poughkeepsie NY 1.6x 81% 15% Bryant University Smithfield RI 1.9x 78% 15% Stetson University DeLand FL 1.0x 89% 15% Knox College Galesburg IL 0.7x 48.1% 15% 83 Furman University Greenville SC 0.9x 28.1% 15% 45 Case Western Reserve University Cleveland OH 0.9x 25.5% 15% 51 Fairfield University Fairfield CT 2.3x 89.6% 16% 132 Queens University of Charlotte Charlotte NC 25% 16% The College of Wooster Wooster OH 1.5x 56.7% 16% 77 Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester MA 2.2x 73.4% 16% 86 Wittenberg University Springfield OH 87.3% 16% 153 Bennington College Bennington VT 0.5x 21.1% 16% 114 Clark University Worcester MA 0.8x 23% 17% 132 Spelman College Atlanta GA 3.2x 52.6% 18% 40 Washington College Chestertown MD 1.6x 84.3% 19% 95 University of Puget Sound Tacoma WA 0.9x 62.4% 19% 95 Elon University Elon NC 1.1x 89.7% 19% 121 Sarah Lawrence College Bronxville NY 1.2x 65.6% 19% 108 College of the Atlantic Bar Harbor ME 0.8x 53.3% 20% 136 Yeshiva University New York NY 1.6x 100.0% 21% 98 DePauw University Greencastle IN 0.5x 27.9% 21% 50 The College of New Jersey Ewing NJ 1.2x 75.6% 21% Cooper Union for Adv. of Sci. & Art New York NY 1.1x 21% 22% Rhodes College Memphis TN 1.4x 50% 22% 59 Clarkson University Potsdam NY 1.1x 86% 22% 152 St. Mary’s College IN Notre Dame IN 0.9x 75.6% 23% 80 Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles CA 2.2x 62.0% 24% 91 Wheaton College Massachusetts Norton MA 1.7x 82% 24% 74 Trinity University San Antonio TX 4.4x 54.2% 24% 40 University of Virginia Charlottesville VA 2.2x 25.3% 26% 24 St. John’s College-Annapolis, MD Annapolis MD 1.7x 66% 26% 83 Texas Christian University Fort Worth TX 2.4x 58.7% 27% 105 Southern Methodist University Dallas TX 2.0x 74.3% 27% 91 St. John’s College-Santa Fe, NM Santa Fe NM 2.3x 81% 28% 114 Union College Schenectady NY 1.4x 48.5% 29% 40 St. Olaf College Northfield MN 1.6x 68% 30% 50 George Washington University Washington DC 1.5x 64.0% 30% 63 Santa Clara University Santa Clara CA 2.9x 71.3% 30% 63 Oberlin College Oberlin OH 1.1x 35.6% 31% 55 Centre College Danville KY 2.0x 72% 31% 59 Bentley University Waltham MA 1.4x 66.9% 31% Wofford College Spartanburg SC 2.8x 86% 31% 66 Sewanee – The University of the South Sewanee TN 2.8x 69.7% 33% 45 Whitman College Walla Walla WA 0.7x 37.9% 33% 53 Wabash College Crawfordsville IN 1.5x 89% 33% 55 Macalester College St. Paul MN 2.9x 46.3% 34% 26 St. Lawrence University Canton NY 1.1x 62.8% 34% 59 Syracuse University Syracuse NY 1.6x 65.9% 35% 73 Hobart & William Smith Colleges Geneva NY 2.2x 90.1% 35% 74 Providence College Providence RI 2.1x 84% 36% American University Washington DC 1.9x 84.7% 36% 91 Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh PA 1.2x 13.6% 36% 21 Sweet Briar College Sweet Briar VA 1.5x 89% 37% 173 Amherst College Amherst MA 3.1x 27.1% 38% 2