Bijal Luhar September 15, 2025 9 College Application Tips,College Lists

Your Complete List of Early Action Deadlines for Every EA College

What’s Covered:

• Early Action, Early Decision, Regular Decision: A Refresher
• Early Action Deadlines by Month
• Early Action Application Tips
• What Are My Chances of Admission?

Early Action (EA) is a popular U.S. college admissions option that lets students apply and receive decisions sooner—while still keeping the flexibility to apply elsewhere, compare offers, and make an informed choice about where to enroll.

Not every student chooses to apply through an early application program, but there are notable benefits to this timeline. From the potential security of knowing you’re already admitted to a college early in the process to improved chances of acceptance at certain schools, EA is an option that’s worth considering when planning your approach to college applications.

One challenge of the EA process is keeping track of deadlines. Luckily, we’ve done the work for you. Below is a list of the application deadlines at colleges with EA programs, as well as some helpful tips and background information to help you navigate the EA process.

Early Action, Early Decision, Regular Decision: A Refresher

Early Action (EA), Early Decision (ED), and Regular Decision (RD), the terminology of college admissions, can be confusing—so here’s a quick refresher of what it all means.

Regular Decision

The “normal” timeline for college admissions involves submitting your college applications in the fall of your senior year of high school, hearing back from colleges in late March or early April, and having to make a decision about where to attend by May 1st. This timeline is known as the Regular Decision (RD) timeline.

Early Application Programs

In addition to the RD process, many colleges now also offer some form of an early application process, through which applicants can submit applications, have them assessed, and receive an admission decision much earlier.

Through the early application option at a college, you submit your application earlier in the fall of your senior year of high school. You’ll also get a decision earlier, often in December, before your fall semester even ends. Early applicants may be accepted or rejected at this point, or have their application pushed back to the RD round for further consideration.

Early application programs come in two major types: Early Decision (ED) and Early Action (EA). There are a few other types of early application programs that you might encounter, and a given college may offer a variety of different application plans, including rolling admissions, a later Early Decision round, known as ED II, and special programs like Questbridge. However, ED and EA are the main options for most applicants.

Early Decision

ED programs generally have strict rules. They’re single-choice, meaning that you cannot apply to any other schools early. They’re also binding, meaning that if you’re accepted, you are contractually obligated to attend—a major difference from EA programs, which are more flexible and give students more freedom to delay a final decision and compare different admissions offers.

Early Action

The defining feature of EA programs is that they’re not binding—if accepted, you still get to choose whether to attend that college, and usually you don’t have to make a decision right away. You can even apply to other colleges during the regular admissions round and wait for them to make admissions decisions before you make your final college choice.

Other benefits of applying EA are that it spreads out your application workload, demonstrates your strong interest in the college, and may improve your chances of being admitted to certain schools.

Some EA programs are also not single-choice, meaning that they don’t ask you to refrain from applying to any other colleges early. However, some EA programs do have this restriction. This approach is known as Single-Choice Early Action (SCEA), or Restricted Early Action (REA). If you apply to an SCEA program, you’re not allowed to apply to any other colleges under EA or ED programs.

The most popular due dates for EA applications are in November, either on November 1st or November 15th, or around December 1st. Top-tier, highly competitive schools are likely to use one of these dates. However, numerous colleges have earlier or later deadlines. The takeaway is to look up the dates for the particular school you’re interested in or consult the full list of deadlines for EA schools below. 

Early Action Deadlines by Month

Schools with EA Deadlines in October

Schools with EA Deadlines in November

Schools with EA Deadlines in December

Schools with EA Deadlines in January

Note that none of these schools have EA II Deadlines, so none are listed in this table.

Early Action Application Tips

Keep in mind that the colleges above aren’t the only ones that allow you to apply early. Other schools also accept early applications under ED, rolling, or scholarship application programs. The schools above are specifically those that use EA terminology and do not have a rolling admissions process overall.

Remember, before you submit an application to any college, visit the college’s undergraduate admissions website and thoroughly read all the application instructions. Schools may have ED or other early application programs in addition to EA. When you submit your application, double-check that you’re submitting it within the correct program.

Application dates and requirements may change. So, it’s vital to double-check each school admissions website. Occasionally, schools have special timeline requirements associated with their EA deadlines, so you must check out the admissions page before submitting your application.

What Are My Chances of Admission?

Want to learn about your chances of getting into one of these colleges? CollegeVine can shed some light on your chances of acceptance. Our free Chancing Engine uses factors like academics, extracurriculars, and demographics to estimate your individual odds of admission at hundreds of schools across the country. It can also provide valuable insight into how to improve your profile!