College Application Deadlines 2026-27: Class of 2031 List

Published September 23, 2026 - New York, NY.

The 2026-27 college application cycle has three deadline walls: October 15 for the earliest state public priority rounds, November 1 for nearly every Early Decision, Early Action, and Restrictive Early Action at the selective privates and Ivies, and January 1-5 for Regular Decision at the Ivies and most peers.

This covers the Class of 2031 application cycle - fall 2027 enrolment. Common App opened August 1, 2026 for the cycle; most application portals accept submissions by mid-September (IvyWise, July 2, 2026).

At a glance

• Three deadline walls: Oct 15, Nov 1, Jan 1-5.
• ED, EA, REA, SCEA all cluster at Nov 1, 2026.
• Regular Decision closes Jan 1 (4 Ivies), Jan 2 (2 Ivies), Jan 5 (2 Ivies + MIT).
• ED II round closes Jan 4-5 at schools that allow it.
• Public university priority rounds often Oct 15 (GA, FL, UNC, FSU, GA Tech).
• ED notifications mid-December 2026; RD late March 2027.
• Common App opened August 1, 2026.
• Reply deadline May 1, 2027.

Data last verified September 23, 2026 from the IvyWise 2026-27 college application deadlines table, Oriel Admissions calendar, ACT college application deadlines guide, and individual school admissions pages.

Quick Answer

The 2026-27 cycle has three deadline walls for Class of 2031 applications: October 15, November 1, and January 1-5.

Most Ivy League and selective private universities close Early Decision, Early Action, Restrictive Early Action, and Single-Choice Early Action on November 1, 2026. Regular Decision closes January 1-5, 2027 depending on the school (IvyWise, July 2, 2026).

Early Decision is binding - if admitted, the student must attend. Early Action and Restrictive Early Action are non-binding. Regular Decision decisions arrive in late March 2027; admitted students commit by May 1, 2027.

The three deadline walls at a glance

Direct comparison of the three primary decision points in the 2026-27 cycle:

Source: IvyWise 2026-27 deadlines table, ACT college application deadlines page (July 2026).

Schools that run an ED II round typically close it on or near January 4-5. Public flagships often close their main RD window in mid-January or later; the November wall is mostly the Ivies and selective privates.

Ivy League deadline schedule

Each Ivy League school runs a single early round - either binding Early Decision or non-binding Restrictive Early Action / Single-Choice Early Action. The eight deadlines:

Source: Oriel Admissions calendar (August 31, 2026).

Each deadline is the school midnight, not a server midnight. Common App and each school's portal close submissions at 11:59 PM applicant local time on the deadline date. School-specific counselling materials and Common App portal guidance should be checked for exact submission cutoffs (Oriel Admissions, 2026).

Other selective private universities

Beyond the Ivies, the November 1 deadline wall includes the major selective privates:

• MIT: Early Action, November 1, 2026 (no binding ED).
• Stanford: Restrictive Early Action, November 1, 2026.
• Caltech: ED and RD dates TBA for 2026-27 cycle.
• Duke University: Early Decision, November 2, 2026 (one day after the Ivy cluster). RD January 4, 2027.
• Carnegie Mellon University: ED November 2, 2026. RD January 4, 2027.
• Boston College: ED I November 1, 2026; ED II January 4, 2027. RD January 4, 2027.
• Boston University: ED I November 2, 2026; ED II January 5, 2027. RD January 5, 2027.
• Georgetown University: EA November 1, 2026. RD January 1, 2027.
• Northwestern: ED November 1, 2026. RD January 5, 2027.

Each school's deadline is its own - check the school's Common App portal page and admissions site for the exact submission cutoff. Most deadlines are 11:59 PM applicant local time; some schools set 11:59 PM Eastern time regardless.

ED II: the January safety round

Some schools allow a second binding Early Decision round in January. ED II is non-binding until the student signs the ED agreement.

Common ED II dates:

• Boston College ED II: January 4, 2027.
• Boston University ED II: January 5, 2027.
• Claremont McKenna ED II: January 17, 2027.
• Colby ED II: January 5, 2027.
• Macalester ED II: January 1, 2027.

ED II is useful for students deferred at a competitor's ED I round or students who decide to apply early during winter break. Schools that allow ED II limit ED II applications to students who did not file ED I elsewhere.

Public university priority deadlines

State flagship publics often publish priority rounds earlier than their regular deadlines. The priority round focuses scholarship consideration and honours college applications:

• Florida State University: Early Action, October 15, 2026. RD December 1.
• Georgia Tech: EA I (GA residents only) October 15, 2026; EA II (non-GA) November 2, 2026. RD January 6, 2027.
• University of Florida: Historically Nov 1 priority; check current cycle.
• UNC Chapel Hill: ED October 15, 2026 (binding for first-year applicants).
• University of Virginia: ED November 1, 2026. RD January 5, 2027.

Priority deadlines trigger automatic merit scholarship review. Filing by October 15 means a student is in the priority scholarship pool; filing on November 1 still qualifies for admissions, but scholarship review depends on the school's schedule.

What happens after November 1

Most schools release Early Decision and Early Action decisions in mid-December 2026:

• Mid-December 2026: ED, EA, REA, SCEA decisions release.
• Late January 2027: ED II decisions release.
• Late March through early April 2027: Regular Decision decisions release. Cornell and Yale run late; some schools wait until the last week of March.
• May 1, 2027: National reply date. Admitted students commit to one college and withdraw from all waitlists.
• Late May through June 2027: Waitlist movement finishes at selective schools.

The reply date of May 1 is consistent across colleges and is enforced as the binding commitment day. After May 1, students on waitlists at one or more schools may be offered admission up to mid-July, but each school's deadline for its incoming class is in late August.

What to do today

Three actions for the September 23 decision window:

• Build a school-list spreadsheet with columns for the early deadline, ED/EA/REA plan, RD deadline, financial aid deadline, and CSS Profile deadline (where applicable). The Common App portal accepts up to 20 schools.
• Draft the Common App personal essay and the additional information section by mid-October. The 2026-27 prompts are live on the Common App website; the personal essay prompt is largely unchanged from prior years.
• Schedule the SAT or ACT attempt by mid-November. Saturday October 3 SAT registration closed; Saturday November 7 SAT or Saturday October 17 ACT are the next windows.

Students applying under binding Early Decision should have their financial aid conversations with their families before November 1. ED is binding, but financial aid appeals remain possible after admission.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between binding Early Decision and non-binding Early Action?

Early Decision is binding - if admitted, the student must attend and must withdraw all other applications. Early Action is non-binding - admitted students have until May 1 to decide. Restrictive Early Action (Harvard, Princeton, Yale) is non-binding but restricts applying ED or EA elsewhere (ACT, September 21, 2026).

Can a student apply to two Ivy League schools in early rounds?

No - the eight Ivies each run a single early round. A student can apply to one Ivy in early, plus non-Ivy ED schools if any allow it. Harvard, Princeton, Yale restrict other private early applications under REA/SCEA; Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Penn run binding ED (IvyWise, 2026).

Do all Ivies release Regular Decision decisions on the same day?

No - RD notifications vary by school. Ivies in the same notification cluster release within a few days of each other in late March 2027. Most Ivies notify ED applicants in mid-December 2026 and RD applicants in late March 2027 (Oriel Admissions, August 31, 2026).

Is November 1 the actual deadline or the start of a window?

November 1 is a one-day deadline, not a window.

Applications close at 11:59 PM applicant local time (or 11:59 PM Eastern time depending on the school). Filing on November 2 is late - check whether the school uses ED I or ED II to determine which round applies (Oriel Admissions, 2026).

How many schools can a student apply to with binding Early Decision?

One. ED is a single binding admission contract. A student can apply ED to one school and regular application to other schools through their regular or ED II windows. The Common App portal enforces this; you cannot submit two ED agreements to two different schools.

Are test scores still required for Ivy League admissions?

Check each school's current policy - most Ivies adopted test-optional for the 2026-27 cycle. Harvard, Yale, and Dartmouth reinstated test-required for the 2024-25 cycle. Students should verify the current year's policy directly on each school's admissions page (IvyWise, 2026).

What is the CSS Profile deadline?

The CSS Profile, run by College Board, supplements the FAFSA for institutional aid.

Each school's CSS Profile deadline is usually earlier than its RD deadline - often November 1 for schools that run EA, and February 1 for RD-only schools. File the CSS Profile with the same timeline as the application (College Board CSS Profile, July 2026).