Early Decision, Early Action, and Test Optional Updates for 2025
Michigan and USC Marshall School of Business now offering early decision
Heads up to applicants considering early decision (ED): both the University of Michigan and the University of Southern California (USC) announced ED options for the first time for 2025 (class of 2026).
Michigan joins the short list of the few public colleges and universities that offer ED: University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, William & Mary, The College of New Jersey, Salisbury University, the University of Vermont, the College of Charleston, and now Michigan round out the complete list.
Michigan also announced two new majors for Class of 2026: a combined major in business and engineering and a direct-admit teacher education program.
USC is offering ED for the first time to applicants to the Marshall School of Business (excluding some majors). This is after its early action (EA) applicant pool has been soaring above 40,000 applicants (of its 80,000+ total applicants) in recent years.
UNC Chapel Hill joins the University of Georgia in releasing early action outcomes to in-state students in December
Many of our most selective public colleges and universities explicitly favor in-state applicants. University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, the University of Georgia (UGA), the University of Washington, UCLA, and Berkeley are examples of selective universities that limit out-of-state acceptances to a small minority of the incoming class. Parents and students should be careful not to assume that an overall acceptance rate at one of these schools is the same as the out-of-state acceptance rate: out-of-state students will be admitted at a much lower rate.
And if you have heard that UNC Chapel Hill and UGA are releasing acceptances earlier, this news might not be for you. This fall, UNC Chapel Hill joins UGA in releasing early action (EA) acceptances to in-state students earlier than to out-of-state students. Under the new policy, UNC Chapel Hill will release EA decisions by December 20 to in-state students– out-of-state applicants will have to wait until February 10. Read more: First-Year Application - Undergraduate Admissions. At UGA, in-state students applying EA receive a notification by December 1, while out-of-state applicants have to wait a few more weeks until mid-December.
Don’t assume that all colleges have an EA or ED deadline of November 1. Both UGA and UNC Chapel Hill have earlier deadlines than most schools: EA apps are due on October 15 at both schools, just as they are at Clemson and the University of South Carolina. Auburn, on the other hand, has a set of four EA deadlines beginning in September and rolling through December 1. Finally, Virginia Tech moved its EA deadline up from November 15 to November 1.
Read more about Early Action, Restrictive Early Action and Early Decision deadlines: Regular Decision, Early Action, Rolling Admissions, Early Decision. What's the difference? — CTK College Coach.
Test required update: Stanford, Miami, and Ohio among colleges now requiring SAT / ACT scores
Even more colleges joined the test-required ranks this year. Stanford University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Miami, and The Ohio State University all now require test scores for applicants. Read more about the test optional/test required movement: 2025 Early Decision (ED) and Early Action (EA) College Admissions Trends.
Complete list of colleges’ test reporting requirements: Complete List of Colleges That Require SAT or ACT Scores for Admissions.
Colleges participating in the new Dialogues interview program
Some colleges are shifting from an interview model to offering a chance for students to present themselves through seminar-based “Dialogues.” This platform, via Sal Khan’s Schoolhouse, allows high schoolers to participate in conversations, fill out a post-conversation survey, and even earn a certificate to submit to colleges after three dialogues.
In our view, this gives students yet another task of dubious utility to complete on an already overwhelmingly long college application checklist. So does this opinion writer: Elite Colleges Have Found a New Virtue for Applicants to Fake - The New York Times
Colleges participating in this include the University of Chicago, Columbia University, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern and Vanderbilt. Read more about the program and see the complete list here: https://schoolhouse.world/dialogues
