College Application Deadlines 2026–2027
Missing a deadline is the single most avoidable mistake in college admissions. Here is every key date for the 2026–27 cycle — Early Decision, Early Action, Regular Decision, financial aid forms, and scholarship deadlines — organized month by month.
Early application deadlines (November 2026)
November 1 is the single biggest deadline day. Most Early Decision I and Early Action applications are due. This includes all Ivy League schools (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell), plus Stanford, MIT, Duke, Northwestern, UChicago, and most other selective private universities. A smaller cluster of schools has a November 15 deadline.
University of California schools (UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, etc.) have a single November 30 deadline — no ED/EA distinction, one deadline for all applicants.
Regular decision deadlines (January 2027)
January 1 and January 15 are the most common Regular Decision deadlines. All Ivy League schools use January 1 or 2 for RD. Many selective privates — MIT, Stanford, Duke, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Rice, Emory — use January 1 or 2 as well. A significant number of schools use January 15 (USC, UNC Chapel Hill, University of Michigan, among others).
Early Decision II deadlines typically fall on the same date as RD deadlines (January 1–15). ED II gives you a second chance at a binding early application if you were deferred or rejected from ED I.
Financial aid deadlines
FAFSA: The 2027–28 FAFSA opens in September 2026. The federal deadline is June 30, 2028, but ignore that — state and institutional deadlines are much earlier. Many schools set priority deadlines between November 2026 and February 2027. File within the first three months to maximize grant aid.
CSS Profile: Required by approximately 250 private colleges. Deadlines vary by school but often match the admissions deadline (November 1 or January 1). Missing the CSS Profile deadline can cost you thousands in institutional aid.
Merit scholarship deadlines: Many schools have separate priority deadlines for merit scholarship consideration, often November 1 or December 1 — earlier than the RD deadline. Check each school's financial aid page.
Month-by-month timeline
June–August 2026: Draft Common App essay. Build activities list. Research colleges. Begin supplemental essays for early-round schools.
September 2026: FAFSA opens. Finalize college list. Request teacher recommendations. Finalize early application essays.
October 2026: Submit early applications (aim for 48–72 hours before deadline). File CSS Profile if required.
November 2026: ED/EA deadlines (Nov 1–15). UC deadline (Nov 30). Continue RD supplemental essays.
December 2026: Receive ED/EA decisions. If deferred, write Letter of Continued Interest. Submit remaining RD applications.
January 2027: RD deadlines (Jan 1–15). ED II deadlines. Submit all remaining applications.
March–April 2027: Receive RD decisions. Compare financial aid offers. Visit admitted-student days.
May 1, 2027: National Decision Day. Commit, submit deposit, withdraw other acceptances.
Plan your deadlines with AdmitGPT
Timing matters beyond deadlines — applying Early Decision can dramatically change your probability. Use the AdmitGPT calculator to see how ED vs RD timing affects your odds at each school before you commit to a deadline strategy.