Updated 12/20/11: Statistics in this story have been updated to reflect admissions data based on fall 2010, the most recent year for which complete data are available.
As competition heightens for admission to top colleges, a growing number of students are trying to improve their odds by applying early—with good reason, as a U.S.News & World Report's analysis of 2010 admission statistics shows. At dozens of colleges, the admissions rate for early applicants is far higher than the admissions rate for high school seniors who wait until the regular deadlines.
[Read about the controversy over early admissions.]
These statistics only count the early applicants who are accepted early. Many colleges defer decisions on some early applicants, accepting them after the deadline for being counted as early admissions, so the eventual acceptance rate for early applicants is often even higher than these numbers indicate.
[Read about 3 reasons colleges accept more early applicants.]
Here is a list of 50 colleges with much higher admissions rate for early applicants than regular applicants, listed in order of the biggest differences between early and regular acceptance rates.
| College | State | Percent of early applicants who are admitted early* | Percent of regular applicants admitted | Difference in acceptance rates | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tougaloo College | MS | 100% | 34% | 66% |
| 2 | University of Arkansas | AR | 91% | 35% | 56% |
| 3 | Agnes Scott College | GA | 82% | 31% | 51% |
| 4 | St. Lawrence University | NY | 87% | 36% | 51% |
| 5 | University of North Florida | FL | 100% | 49% | 51% |
| 6 | Illinois Wesleyan University | IL | 93% | 46% | 47% |
| 7 | Central Christian College | KS | 100% | 55% | 45% |
| 8 | High Point University | NC | 89% | 47% | 42% |
| 9 | Lawrence University | WI | 93% | 52% | 41% |
| 10 | College of the Holy Cross | MA | 73% | 33% | 40% |
| 11 | Presbyterian College | SC | 90% | 50% | 40% |
| 12 | Stonehill College | MA | 86% | 47% | 39% |
| 13 | Ursinus College | PA | 61% | 22% | 39% |
| 14 | Meredith College | NC | 100% | 64% | 36% |
| 15 | Miami University--Oxford | OH | 88% | 52% | 36% |
| 16 | Denison University | OH | 83% | 48% | 35% |
| 17 | The Sage Colleges | NY | 92% | 57% | 35% |
| 18 | University of Dayton | OH | 87% | 52% | 35% |
| 19 | Bucknell University | PA | 62% | 28% | 34% |
| 20 | Skidmore College | NY | 78% | 44% | 34% |
| 21 | Union College | NY | 74% | 40% | 34% |
| 22 | Whitman College | WA | 79% | 45% | 34% |
| 23 | Lehigh University | PA | 68% | 35% | 33% |
| 24 | Muhlenberg College | PA | 79% | 46% | 33% |
| 25 | SUNY Institute of Technology--Utica/Rome | NY | 63% | 30% | 33% |
| 26 | Wabash College | IN | 88% | 55% | 33% |
| 27 | Wheelock College | MA | 97% | 64% | 33% |
| 28 | Wittenberg University | OH | 90% | 57% | 33% |
| 29 | Connecticut College | CT | 61% | 29% | 32% |
| 30 | Davidson College | NC | 58% | 26% | 32% |
| 31 | Oberlin College | OH | 61% | 29% | 32% |
| 32 | Trinity University | TX | 81% | 49% | 32% |
| 33 | American University | DC | 73% | 42% | 31% |
| 34 | Butler University | IN | 85% | 54% | 31% |
| 35 | Westmont College | CA | 90% | 59% | 31% |
| 36 | Haverford College | PA | 54% | 24% | 30% |
| 37 | University of Puget Sound | WA | 82% | 52% | 30% |
| 38 | University of Vermont | VT | 94% | 64% | 30% |
| 39 | Beloit College | WI | 90% | 61% | 29% |
| 40 | Bentley University | MA | 63% | 34% | 29% |
| 41 | Colorado College | CO | 52% | 23% | 29% |
| 42 | DePaul University | IL | 85% | 56% | 29% |
| 43 | Lafayette College | PA | 69% | 40% | 29% |
| 44 | Linfield College | OR | 99% | 70% | 29% |
| 45 | University of Tampa | FL | 62% | 33% | 29% |
| 46 | Washington and Lee University | VA | 46% | 17% | 29% |
| 47 | George Mason University | VA | 75% | 47% | 28% |
| 48 | Gettysburg College | PA | 66% | 38% | 28% |
| 49 | Kalamazoo College | MI | 92% | 64% | 28% |
| 50 | La Salle University | PA | 83% | 55% | 28% |
| 51 | University of Connecticut | CT | 64% | 36% | 28% |
| 52 | University of Georgia | GA | 70% | 42% | 28% |
*Combines early decision and early action programs at those colleges that have both. In addition, some colleges defer some early applicants to the regular pool, where they have an additional chance of admittance, so the percentage of early applicants who are eventually accepted may be higher. Because of ties, there are more than 50 schools listed.
Looking for the best college for you? Check out the complete rankings of Best Colleges.
Reader Comments Read all comments (2)
ANITA JAISWAL 5:42AM June 09, 2012
ismailabdulmunim 2:00PM December 17, 2010