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College Application Deadlines 2023-2024: What You Need to Know
By Lisa Freedland
Lisa Freedland is a Scholarships360 writer with personal experience in psychological research and content writing. She has written content for an online fact-checking organization and has conducted research at the University of Southern California as well as the University of California, Irvine. Lisa graduated from the University of Southern California in Fall 2021 with a degree in Psychology.
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Cait Williams is a Content Writer at Scholarships360. Cait recently graduated from Ohio University with a degree in Journalism and Strategic Communications. During her time at OU, was active in the outdoor recreation community.
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Bill Jack has over a decade of experience in college admissions and financial aid. Since 2008, he has worked at Colby College, Wesleyan University, University of Maine at Farmington, and Bates College.
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Maria Geiger is Director of Content at Scholarships360. She is a former online educational technology instructor and adjunct writing instructor. In addition to education reform, Maria’s interests include viewpoint diversity, blended/flipped learning, digital communication, and integrating media/web tools into the curriculum to better facilitate student engagement. Maria earned both a B.A. and an M.A. in English Literature from Monmouth University, an M. Ed. in Education from Monmouth University, and a Virtual Online Teaching Certificate (VOLT) from the University of Pennsylvania.
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A new college application season is around the corner. Therefore, it’s important that you know when your colleges’ deadlines are so that you can prepare as early as possible. To ease your college application process, we’ve compiled general information on 2023-2024 college application deadlines. We did our best to cover a wide variety of popular universities. Keep reading to find out 2023-2024 college application deadlines for regular decision, early action, early decision, and more!
When do college applications open for 2023-2024?
The majority of college applications for the 2023-2024 application cycle open on August 1, 2023. This includes both the Common and Coalition Applications. Both applications allow you to apply to a wide variety of public and private institutions.
General applications
If you’re looking to get a head start, however, you can complete the general application components at any time before August 1st (or after). Just know that you will not get access to specific college’s application components until the official “opening” date (August 1, 2023).
Proprietary applications
On the other hand, schools that use proprietary applications (meaning that they have their own specific applications that cannot be found on a platform like the Common or Coalition Application) typically open them in August or September. Specific dates vary by school, so we recommend you check beforehand!
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What you’ll need to apply
In terms of school specific application components, they’re usually quite similar school-to-school, but certain components like essay questions may differ. On the bright side, though, school-specific essays are usually far shorter than the main application essay. Think ~250 words rather than 650, which is significant.
No matter when and where you apply, there are some basic things you’ll need to submit to apply to colleges. These include:
- College essay(s)
- Recommendation letters
- Official high school transcripts
- Standardized test scores (if required)
Some colleges will require all of the above, while others, such as large public universities, might require only test scores and high school transcripts.
So, now that we’ve gone over when applications open, when do they close? Let’s see!
Fall 2023 college application deadlines
As you may have heard, there’s different types of college application deadlines. These include early action, early decision, regular decision, and rolling admissions. We will supply you the typical deadline dates as well as general information on these types of deadlines.
Transfer students – don’t think we forgot about you! We’ll also cover transfer deadlines and have a few helpful sources to help you through your college transition. Let’s start!
Early action deadlines
As indicated by the name, early action deadlines allow students to apply to colleges early. Students find out their admission decision before those who apply through regular decision usually applying in November and hearing back in December. If you want to hear back from colleges early without the pressure of having to commit to a school quickly, early action is a great option. As you do not have to accept/deny an admission offer until May 1, this gives you plenty of time to compare your options.
Early decision deadlines
Most early decision deadlines also fall in November. Students who apply early decision at this time usually hear back by December. If accepted, a nonrefundable deposit is sent to the school far in advance of May 1st (National College Decision Day).
Many schools who offer early decision deadlines also have a second early decision deadline for students who didn’t apply to the first – with these second round deadlines often occurring sometime between early and mid-January.
Related: Early Decision and Early Action Notification Dates
Deferred
If you’re not quite accepted to a school through early action, but not quite rejected, you may have been deferred. Being deferred means that your application has been pushed to the regular decision applicant pool, and will be reviewed once again amongst applicants who applied through regular decision. Being deferred isn’t the worst news- it gives you the opportunity to reach out to the school in the meantime and potentially improve your application (and thus, your admission chances too!).
Regular decision deadlines
Regular decision deadlines fall later than their early action and early decision counterparts, with most falling in early January. Students will typically receive their admission decisions in March and April. If accepted to a school after applying regular decision, applicants will have until the end of April (before National College Decision Day) to accept or turn down the admission offer.
Related: Regular decision notification dates
Rolling admissions
Now, let’s roll into rolling admissions! Colleges that offer rolling admissions do not have set deadlines. Instead, these universities review applications as they come in. They typically have several “windows” each year in which students can submit applications. Applications are accepted until all spots in the upcoming class are filled up. While they can remain open all the way into spring, some colleges will close them on May 1st.
The difference between early action and early decision
We want to take a quick second to help you note the difference between these two admissions options. The biggest difference is that applying to a college through early decision includes a binding agreement, requiring students who are accepted through early decision to commit to that particular school. These students must also withdraw all their other college applications (to other schools). So, if you’re planning on applying to a university through early decision, we urge you to be 100% sure that you would be happy to attend that school.
Transfer application deadlines
Last, but certainly not least, let’s go over transfer deadlines! For those planning on transferring to a new school, many transfer application deadlines fall between February and March, but some schools deadlines’ can even go farther into April or May. If this seems strange, just keep in mind that it’s quite common for transfer deadlines to fall later than or after schools’ deadlines for first-year students.
Also, as a general rule, it is a good idea to start your transfer application process at the beginning of your last full semester at your current university (the one you’re transferring from).
If you’re currently going through the transfer process and are looking for guidance or more information, we recommend checking out these sources:
- How to transfer from a community college
- Top scholarships for transfer students
- How to write a college transfer essay
When should you apply to college in the fall?
Yay! We’ve finished going over all the types of deadlines for your college application. Ultimately, however, there’s more to applying to colleges than just your application. So, when should you do everything else?
Great question. Applying to college is a long process, so it’s best to start early! While it’s fine to start some parts of the process during your senior year, it’s a good idea to take your standardized tests (if required) during your junior year of high school.
Other components, like your essays, should be started as soon as possible, so you have enough time to really think through how you should answer the prompts. As for recommendation letters, you should make sure to ask for these at least a month before they’re due, to give your recommenders enough time to finish and answer any questions they may have.
If you are ready to apply early in your senior year, early action or decision might be a good option, as it may allow you to receive your decisions sooner and feel relatively more “relaxed” for the rest of the school year.
List of application deadlines at some popular colleges
To give you some context about college application deadlines, we’ve included a list of some popular colleges below and each of their deadlines for the 2023-2024 application cycle.
As you can see from our list, application deadlines vary widely, especially in their early decision and early action dates. Please note that the dates above are general deadlines that these schools put out. However, there may be different deadlines for specific programs or schools that are within your university. Check with each schools’ website to make sure you do not miss any important dates!
What do I do if I miss the college application deadline?
If you are unable to submit your college application (or any component) by the deadline, there are a few things you can do.
Contact the school directly
We recommend that you contact the school’s admissions office directly. This allows you to explain the situation to them and ask if there is any way that you can still submit your application. When you get in contact, make sure you have an actual reason for missing the deadline – they may be less sympathetic if you simply forgot about the deadline.
Write the admissions office a letter
You might also consider writing a letter to the admissions office. In the letter, detail why you missed the deadline and elaborate on why you are a good fit for that college. Hopefully, they will still let you submit your application. If not, you still have options, don’t worry!
Colleges with late application deadlines
If you have found yourself wishing you applied to more schools but most of the deadlines have already passed, don’t fret! There are actually many schools out there with later deadlines.
A few more options for missed deadlines
If the missed deadline is your top-choice and you are determined to attend, there’s a few options. You can:
- Wait a semester (or academic year) for the chance to re-apply
- Accept the offer to another school you were accepted to, attend it for a year, and then transfer to your top-choice school
- Attend a local community college, before transferring to your top-choice school
Ultimately, even if you missed the deadline for a particular school, just remember that it’s not the end of the world! No matter what schools you’re applying to and what deadline, we highly recommend you check out the specific deadlines for your schools to make sure that you don’t miss any. Good luck meeting those college application deadlines!
Frequently asked questions about college application deadlines
Does early application increase chances of admission?
Do colleges accept late recommendations?
