As you wait for news from your regular decision applications, you are not alone in finding this time to be difficult.
But take heart. Though it may not seem so now, the college admissions process is just one part of a much larger educational and career path. Your life’s journey will be full of both successes and setbacks, and you will come through each of them stronger, wiser, and more capable. As you await your final college decisions, remember to trust in the process, and remind yourself that you have done all you can to maximize your chances of success. Have faith that you will have an exciting range of college options for this fall. While these are challenging times, continue to engage in your academics and activities!
Letter of Continued Interest
If you are deferred in the early admissions cycle or wait listed during regular admissions from a college in which you remain interested, it is highly beneficial to send a Letter of Continued Interest in which you demonstrate your interest, discuss features that are a good fit for you, and provide updates on your accomplishments since you applied.
Timetable for College and Student Decisions
By early April, you will receive your regular admissions decisions and will be accepted, denied, or wait listed. If accepted, you have until May 1st to notify the college that you choose to attend and to confirm this with a deposit, as May 1st is the “National Candidates Reply Date” for all non-ED applicants (except for NCAA-recruited athletes). You may still be on wait lists at that time and might be accepted at any point up until freshman year commences. If you are accepted to a wait list college and choose to attend, make sure to notify the regular admissions college to which you previously committed that your plans have changed.
See the chart below for an updated list of regular decision notification dates for a sample of selective schools.
| School | Regular Notification Date Class of 2028 |
| American University | mid-March |
| Amherst College | late March |
| Babson College | mid-March |
| Barnard College | late March |
| Bates College | 4/1/2024 |
| Boston College | 4/1/2024 |
| Boston University | late March |
| Bowdoin College | mid-March |
| Brandeis University | 4/1/2024 |
| Brown University | by early April |
| Bucknell University | 4/1/2024 |
| CalArts | March 1 through early April |
| Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo | by 4/1/24 |
| California Institute of Technology | mid-March |
| Carnegie Mellon University | by 4/1/24 |
| Case Western Reserve University | 3/20/2024 |
| Claremont McKenna College | by 4/1/24 |
| Clark University | by mid to late March |
| Clemson University | mid-February |
| Colby College | by 4/1/24 |
| Colgate University | late March |
| College of William and Mary | by late March |
| Colorado College | mid-March |
| Columbia University | late March |
| Connecticut College | late March |
| Cornell University | late March |
| Dartmouth College | late March or early April |
| Davidson College | by 4/1/24 |
| Dickinson College | late March |
| Drexel University | by 4/1/24 |
| Duke University | late March or early April |
| Elon University | 3/20/2024 |
| Emory University | by 4/1/24 |
| Fairfield University | 4/1/2024 |
| Fordham University | by 4/1/24 |
| Franklin and Marshall College | by 4/1/24 |
| George Washington University | by 4/1/24 |
| Georgetown University | 4/1/2024 |
| Hamilton College | late March |
| Harvard University | by the end of March |
| Haverford College | early April |
| Hofstra University | February 1st then rolling |
| Indiana University-Bloomington | by 3/15/24 |
| James Madison University | mid to late March |
| Johns Hopkins University | 3/20/2024 |
| Lafayette College | late March |
| Lehigh University | late March |
| Middlebury College | late March |
| MIT | mid-March |
| Muhlenberg College | mid-March |
| The New School | 1/15/2024 |
| New York University | 3/15/2024 |
| Northeastern University | by 4/1/24 |
| Northwestern University | March 2024 |
| Occidental College | 4/1/2024 |
| Ohio State University | Feb 16, March 22 |
| Penn State University | by 1/31/24 then rolling |
| Pitzer College | by 4/1/24 |
| Pomona College | by 4/1/24 |
| Princeton University | late March or early April |
| Purdue University | by 3/31/24 |
| Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | early March |
| Rice University | by 4/1/24 |
| Rochester Institute of Technology | mid-March |
| Santa Clara University | by the first week of April |
| Sarah Lawrence College | late March or early April |
| Skidmore College | mid-March |
| Stanford University | early April |
| Stevens Institute of Technology | by 4/1/24 |
| SUNY at Binghamton | by 4/1/24 |
| SUNY at Geneseo | early March then rolling |
| SUNY at Stony Brook | end of March |
| Swarthmore College | by 4/1/24 |
| Syracuse University | late March |
| Trinity College | late March |
| Tufts University | by 4/1/24 |
| Tulane University | by 4/1/24 |
| UC-Berkeley | end of March |
| UC-Davis | mid-March |
| UC-Irvine | by 3/31/24 |
| UC-Los Angeles | late March |
| UC-San Diego | by 3/31/24 |
| UC-Santa Barbara | mid-March |
| UC-Santa Cruz | February to mid-March |
| UNC – Chapel Hill | 3/31/2024 |
| Union College | 3/16/2024 |
| University of Chicago | late March |
| University of Colorado, Boulder | by 4/1/24 |
| University of Connecticut | begins 3/1/24 |
| University of Delaware | mid-March |
| University of Denver | mid-March |
| University of Florida | 2/23/2024 |
| University of Georgia | mid-March |
| University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | early March |
| University of Maryland-College Park | by 4/1/24 |
| University of Miami | by 4/1/24 |
| University of Michigan | early April |
| University of Notre Dame | late March |
| University of Pennsylvania | by 4/1/24 |
| University of Pittsburgh | Rolling |
| University of Richmond | mid-March |
| University of Rochester | 4/1/2024 |
| University of Southern California | by 4/1/24 |
| University of Texas at Austin | by 3/1/24 |
| University of Vermont | early March |
| University of Virginia | by 4/1/24 |
| University of Washington-Seattle | 3/1/24 – 3/15/24 |
| University of Wisconsin-Madison | by 3/31/24 |
| Vanderbilt University | late March |
| Vassar College | by 4/1/24 |
| Villanova University | by 4/1/24 |
| Wake Forest University | around 4/1/24 |
| Washington University in St. Louis | by 4/1/24 |
| Wellesley College | late March |
| Wesleyan University | late March |
| Williams College | by 4/1/24 |
| Yale University | by 4/1/24 |
Deciding whether and where to apply early or regular decision can be daunting, especially now. The college admissions process can be overwhelming, and it may feel difficult to know where to start. At Collegiate Gateway, we are eager to share our expertise and guide you on the path to your “best fit” college. Please feel free to contact us! As always, we’re happy to help!
