Early Decision

Early decision is a binding decision process appropriate for students who have identified William & Mary as a first choice and are prepared to make a binding commitment to enroll if admitted. Application materials for early decision candidates must be submitted by November 1. Admission decision letters are issued by early December. (Please note: there is not an early admission option for Transfer applicants.)

The Early Decision Agreement

By applying early decision, an applicant is making a commitment to enroll at the College the following fall if he or she is admitted. A student applying through early decision to the College of William & Mary may still apply to other schools. However, a student may only apply to one school through a binding early decision process. Students who are admitted to William & Mary through early decision must confirm their enrollment by making a non-refundable deposit within two weeks of receiving the admission letter. Furthermore, admitted students must withdraw applications from all other colleges to which they have applied.

Most applicants who are not accepted during early decision are deferred to the regular decision process where the admission committee reviews their application again, this time in the broader context of the entire applicant pool. William & Mary will deny admission to students during early decision if the admission committee feels that they are not competitive at that point in time, and will not be competitive in the regular decision applicant pool. A denial during early decision is a final admission decision.

Early Decision vs. Regular Decision

There is not a competitive difference between early decision and regular decision at the College of William & Mary. Many institutions have terminated their early admission practices because they noticed substantial differences among the students applying through the different processes. At William & Mary this is not the case. The same caliber of student is admitted during early decision as during regular decision, and both applicant pools well represent the many diverse backgrounds from which our applicants are drawn.

Still, the early decision and regular decision admission processes at William & Mary are distinguishable. Early decision is a much smaller pool of approximately 1,000 applications each year. During regular decision approximately 10,000 additional applications are received. During early decision, the admission committee takes into consideration that a student has identified the College as their first choice school, whereas during regular decision this is not as prominent a factor.

College admission is an understandably confusing process given its complexity. If you have any questions regarding the different admission processes offered by William & Mary please do not hesitate to contact us.