Decide / decision tracker
When each school releases decisions.
The waiting is the hardest part of senior year. Here's the calendar for 2026 — by round, by school. Ivy Day is Thursday, March 26 at 7pm ET.
Dates compiled from school admissions pages. We refresh before each cycle but verify the official school page if the decision is more than 24 hours away — schools sometimes shift dates close to release.
Early Decision I + Restrictive Early Action
Mid-December
Decisions released ~6 weeks after the Nov 1 deadline. Binding for ED — if admitted, you commit.
| Harvard (REA) | December 11-13 |
| Yale (SCEA) | December 11-13 |
| Princeton (SCEA) | December 11-13 |
| Stanford (REA) | December 11-13 |
| MIT (EA) | Mid-December |
| Penn (ED) | December 10-15 |
| Columbia (ED) | December 10-15 |
| Brown (ED) | December 10-15 |
| Dartmouth (ED) | Mid-December |
| Cornell (ED) | Mid-December |
| Duke (ED) | December 12-15 |
| Northwestern (ED) | Mid-December |
| Johns Hopkins (ED I) | Mid-December |
| Vanderbilt (ED I) | Mid-December |
| Notre Dame (REA) | Mid-December |
| Rice (ED) | Mid-December |
| Emory (ED I) | Mid-December |
| WashU (ED I) | Mid-December |
| Tufts (ED I) | Mid-December |
Early Decision II
Mid-February
Binding round for students who missed ED I or applied to one school ED I and were deferred/rejected. Decisions arrive ~5-6 weeks after the Jan 1-15 deadline.
| Bowdoin (ED II) | February 10-15 |
| Vanderbilt (ED II) | February 10-15 |
| Johns Hopkins (ED II) | Mid-February |
| Emory (ED II) | Mid-February |
| WashU (ED II) | Mid-February |
| Tufts (ED II) | Mid-February |
| Brandeis (ED II) | Mid-February |
| NYU (ED II) | Mid-February |
| Pomona (ED II) | Mid-February |
| Carleton (ED II) | Mid-February |
| Middlebury (ED II) | Mid-February |
| Swarthmore (ED II) | Mid-February |
| Wesleyan (ED II) | Mid-February |
Ivy Day
Thursday, March 26, 2026 at 7pm ET
All eight Ivy League schools release Regular Decision results simultaneously. The single biggest decision day of the year for selective admissions.
| Harvard | March 26, 7pm ET |
| Yale | March 26, 7pm ET |
| Princeton | March 26, 7pm ET |
| Columbia | March 26, 7pm ET |
| Penn | March 26, 7pm ET |
| Cornell | March 26, 7pm ET |
| Brown | March 26, 7pm ET |
| Dartmouth | March 26, 7pm ET |
Regular Decision (top non-Ivy privates)
Mid- to late-March
Most highly selective non-Ivy schools cluster decisions in the last two weeks of March.
| Stanford | Late March (typically late Mar 20s) |
| MIT | March 14 (Pi Day, by tradition) |
| Duke | Late March |
| Northwestern | Late March |
| Johns Hopkins | Mid-March |
| Vanderbilt | Late March |
| Notre Dame | Late March |
| Rice | Late March |
| Emory | Late March / early April |
| WashU | Late March |
| Georgetown | April 1 |
| Tufts | Late March / April 1 |
| Northeastern | March 25 |
| Boston College | Late March |
| NYU | Late March / April 1 |
| USC | Late March / early April |
| Caltech | Mid-March |
| Carnegie Mellon | Mid-March / April 1 |
Regular Decision (top publics)
March (some rolling)
Public flagships vary widely. UCs release together. Most others stagger by college within the university.
| UC system (all 9 undergrad campuses) | UCLA & Berkeley: late March. Others: late Feb through April |
| University of Michigan | Rolling through early April |
| UVA | April 1 |
| UNC Chapel Hill | Late January (EA) / late March (RD) |
| UT Austin | Rolling — most by Feb 1, some later |
| Texas A&M | Rolling through Feb-March |
| Georgia Tech | Mid-March |
| UF (Florida) | Late February |
| Wisconsin-Madison | Late March (RD) |
| Illinois (UIUC) | Mid-March |
| Purdue | Rolling through March-April |
| Indiana University | Rolling — typically by late February |
| Penn State | Rolling — most by late February |
| Ohio State | Rolling — most by early March |
Rolling admissions (decide-as-you-apply)
Throughout the year
Schools that review applications as they arrive and release decisions within 4-8 weeks. Good for early peace of mind.
| Pittsburgh | 4-6 weeks after complete app |
| Arizona State | Within 2-4 weeks |
| University of Arizona | Within 2-4 weeks |
| Michigan State | Rolling, weekly |
| Alabama | Within 2 weeks (typical for high-stat applicants) |
| Indiana University | Rolling, often within 4 weeks |
| Iowa | Rolling, within 2-4 weeks |
| Drexel | Rolling |
| Hofstra | Rolling |
The night before and the morning of
Don't watch reaction videos that night. They are 95% acceptance videos because the rejection videos don't go viral. Your feed is curated to make you feel like everyone got in but you. They didn't.
Eat dinner, do something physical, sleep early. The decision will be there in the morning whether you obsess or not. Senior year is exhausting; protect the sleep.
Open the portal alone (or with one trusted person) on a laptop. Not on your phone in front of a circle of friends with a camera rolling. Whatever the result, you want a few minutes of private space to process before performing a reaction for anyone.
Have a financial plan ready before you open. Excitement clouds judgment. If you're admitted, the next 30 days will be aid-letter-review time, and you'll need clear-eyed comparisons. If you're not, you'll need to know where your other admits stand.
If it's a no: close the laptop, sit with it for an hour, then talk to one person who loves you. Read the “got into nothing” page if you're feeling cornered. The fact that an admissions office decided no doesn't mean your story is over.
If it's a waitlist: read the waitlist playbook within a week. Letter of Continued Interest goes in fast, but only after you've decided whether you actually want this school more than your top admit.
If it's a yes: breathe. Then start preparing your aid appeal in case the financial aid letter that follows isn't enough. About 75% of well-written appeals get more money. Most families never appeal because nobody told them they could.
See a date that's wrong or missing? Email hello@kidtocollege.com and we'll fix it.