Here's our updated list of early decision and early action notification dates for the Class of 2029.  As many of you know, schools often post results in advance of their "official" notification dates, so we've compiled the most recently updated dates for you here where available, as well as last year's notification dates for reference.   Bookmark this page, as we'll be updating it frequently over the next 30 days.

Good luck, seniors!

Here's our updated list of early decision and early action notification dates for the Class of 2028.  As many of you know, schools often post results in advance of their "official" notification dates, so we've compiled the most recently updated dates for you here where available, as well as last year's notification dates for reference.   Bookmark this page, as we'll be updating it frequently over the next 30 days.

Good luck, seniors!

With all of the media attention surrounding legacy admissions, we thought it would be helpful to compile a list of selective public and private institutions that don't consider legacy status as part of the admissions process.

To come up with the list, we pulled data from the 2022-23 Common Data Set (or Fall 2022 NCES database) for each institution in our coverage universe with acceptance rates of 50 percent or less. We then cross-checked with recent announcements to identify recent changes to policies, such as with Wesleyan University and Occidental College.

Of the 138 schools currently in our coverage universe with acceptance rates of 50 percent or less, 33 percent do not consider legacy status—42 percent for publics and 25 percent for privates.

Bookmark this page, as we expect to update it periodically with institutions opting to drop legacy consideration for this cycle.

Click on Continue Reading for the list

Here's our updated list of early decision and early action notification dates for the Class of 2027.  As many of you know, schools often post results in advance of their "official" notification dates, so we've compiled the most recently updated dates for you here where available, as well as last year's notification dates for reference.   Bookmark this page, as we'll be updating it frequently over the next 30 days.

Good luck, seniors!

Here's our updated list of early decision and early action notification dates for the Class of 2026.  As many of you know, schools often post results in advance of their "official" notification dates, so we've compiled the most recently updated dates for you here where available, as well as last year's notification dates for reference.   Bookmark this page, as we'll be updating it frequently over the next 30 days.

Good luck, seniors!

Most schools have completed their updates for the 2021-22 admission cycle (Class of 2026), and several of the changes we've observed are worth noting. 

Roughly 25 schools have modified early admission options available to applicants this fall.  Notable changes include the resumption of Restrictive Early Action at Princeton, the introduction of Early Decision 2 at Carnegie Mellon, Emerson and Loyola Marymount, and the removal of Early Decision 2 at Syracuse University.

If you're considering early admission, be sure to check out our list as it may impact how you decide to apply this fall.   Note to our subscribers: the data has already been incorporated into the product, simply re-run College Kickstart to see how it impacts your plan.

Click on Continue Reading below for the details.

Here's our updated list of early decision and early action notification dates for the Class of 2025.  As many of you know, schools often post results in advance of their "official" notification dates, so we've compiled the most recently updated dates for you here where available, as well as last year's notification dates for reference.   Bookmark this page, as we'll be updating it frequently over the next 30 days.

Good luck, seniors!

Most schools have completed their updates for the Class of 2025 admission cycle (2020-21), and several of the changes we've observed are worth noting. 

Roughly 25 schools have modified early admission options available to applicants this fall.  Notable changes include the temporary suspension of Restrictive Early Action at Princeton, the introduction of an Early Action 2 option specifically for non-resident applicants at Georgia Tech, a new Early Action option at Macalester and new Early Decision 2 options at Baylor, Johns Hopkins, Syracuse, University of Rochester and Villanova.

If you're considering early admission, be sure to check out our list as it may impact how you decide to apply this fall.   Note to our subscribers: the data has already been incorporated into the product, simply re-run College Kickstart to see how it impacts your plan.

Click on Continue Reading below for the details.

The Common App for 2016-17 is now live, and we've just wrapped up our analysis of the real number of short answer/essay prompts required for each school.  If you've been through this process before, you know that just because a school lacks a writing supplement doesn't mean there are no additional essays to complete.  Many schools in fact simply embed these prompts in the main application itself.

This post summarizes the prompts required for 200+ Common Application schools in our coverage universe.  Our definition of a prompt is a question that requires more than a one word or one sentence answer.  It's not perfect, but it should help you gauge the amount of writing you'll need to get through over the next few months.  It'll also help you identify schools that you can apply to without the need for extra essays!

Click on Continue Reading for the list.

The Common App for 2015-16 was posted earlier today, and we've just wrapped up our analysis on the real number of short answer/essay prompts required for each school.  If you've been through this process before, you know that just because a school lacks a writing supplement doesn't mean there are no additional essays to complete.  Many schools in fact simply embed these prompts in the main application itself.

This post summarizes the prompts required for 200+ Common Application schools in our coverage universe.  Our definition of a prompt is a question that requires more than a one word or one sentence answer.  It's not perfect, but it should help you gauge the amount of writing you'll need to get through over the next few months.  It'll also help you identify schools that you can apply to without the need for extra essays!

Click on Continue Reading for the list.

With your college list more or less finalized, give some consideration to early admission—many schools offer it and can be a terrific way to boost odds and minimize wasted motion.  All you need to do is apply 45-60 days earlier than you normally would. 

Here's a list of competitive 4-year institutions offering early admission to applicants.  Depending on the school, these options range from Early Decision (binding) to Early Action (non-binding) and Restrictive Early Action (non-binding with restrictions on where else you can apply).  

The first wave of deadlines is coming up in November, so take a quick look to see if any of your schools offer something worth considering. Or click here to find out how College Kickstart can help you fully capitalize on it.