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early decision

Early Decision Strategy for Duke 2025-2026

Located in Durham, North Carolina, Duke University is a private research institution known for academic excellence, strong school spirit, and sports teams with a serious following (hello, Cameron Crazies). The university has built a reputation as one of the most prestigious schools in the country. Duke is especially well-regarded for its programs in public policy, biomedical engineering, and pre-law, and with acceptance rates dropping each year, it only getting more competitive. In 2025, their regular decision acceptance rate was under 5%, while ED acceptance sat at 12.8%. These stats put Duke fully in competition with Ivies, with schools like Yale having almost identical numbers.

Rejected Early Decision from Wake Forest 2024-2025

If youre reading this, you probably received disappointing news from Wake Forest in the Early Decision round, or youre planning ahead in case that how things work out. Wake Forest offers both Early Decision I and Early Action application options, but were focusing on EDI here because you will most likely receive a response with time (albeit rushed) to make big changes to your college application strategy in the Regular Decision and Early Decision II round. The EA decisions for Wake Forest come out after most Regular Decision and EDII deadlines, so itll be too late to implement our advice in this post (an incentive to plan ahead!).

Rejected Early Decision by Vassar 2024-2025

Receiving a rejection in the Early Decision round always hurts. You probably had this vision for your college application experience where youd do your work early, youd get in early, and you would be done early. But now Vassar said no early decision and youre facing a pile of applications and looming deadlines, and possibly no strong sense of what needs fixing. Well, that why we are here to help. First, though, let break down what went wrong with Vassar so we can rebuild on firmer footing. 

Rejected Early Decision from Pomona 2024-2025

We know getting rejected is tough, and an early decision rejection from your dream school can hit especially hard. Pomona acceptance rates are no joke7% overall and 13% for ED. But keep in mind, that doesn mean you were twice as likely to get in during ED, and approx. 1,400 other students also got similar news. Youre far from alone in this, and we want to remind you: not getting into Pomona doesn define your future. Youre still headed for a fantastic school where youll thrive.

Rejected Early Decision from Johns Hopkins (Ƶ) 2024-2025

Hey there, we know you just got rejected ED from Johns Hopkins, and were sure you feel pretty blah right now. You might be angry, sad, disappointed, or some secret fourth thing. We get it and the wisdom weve gleaned from living a little longer than you and working in this industry tells us that you will absolutely still go to college, a great college, and that this rejection is not a reflection of you as a person.

Rejected Early Decision from UVA 2024-2025

UVA, or the University of Virginia, is one of the most popular state schools in the country. This comes with an equally high level of competition, which youve been on the disappointing end of. A rejection from UVA Early Decision is frustrating, but it also not the end of the world nor the end of your journey. In this post, well break down what to do next. Were focusing on Early Decision only here because it is a time of opportunity. The Early Action decisions come out after Regular Decision deadlines, but the Early Decision notification date gives you enough time to make adjustments to (or completely overhaul) your strategy. First, let talk nuts and bolts.

Rejected Early Decision from Swarthmore 2024-2025

If youve landed here, it probably means you didn get the news you wanted from Swarthmore. Were really sorry to hear thatrejection is tough, and it even harder when it from a school you were genuinely excited about. But try not to let this discourage you. This one decision doesn capture who you are or what youre capable of. Youll find a great school that the perfect fit (yes, you will go to college, we promise), and you will be successful! We promise!

Rejected Early Decision from Tufts 2024-2025

Applying to college is stressful even if everything goes right. When you hit a roadblock, especially when dreams are involved, it can be downright painful. And if youve been rejected from Tufts in the Early Decision I round, youre probably somewhere between stressed and heartbroken. No matter how you feel, you are completely valid in those emotions. But there are also actions you need to take to turn things around for your best possible outcomes in the next application round.

Rejected Early Decision from Vanderbilt 2024-2025

First off, sorry. If you are reading this blog, you have just received some bad news. Vanderbilt was likely your dream school or at least a school you loved enough to apply ED to, and getting a no stinks. However, application season isn over, and there is still time to get into great schools. All you have to do is put the work in, and you can turn it around for regular decision.

Rejected Early Decision from New York University (NYU) 2024-2025

If youve been rejected by NYU Early Decision, that a major downer. You picked New York University for your Early Decision school because it was a top choice that you knew you wanted to attend, and believed you had a strong chance at. But it didn work out, and now you need to know what to do next. First, let do a bit of a post-mortem on NYU.

Rejected Early Decision from Dartmouth 2024-2025

If youre here, we are assuming youve just been rejected ED from Dartmouth and don know what to do next. Youre probably reeling and need something to do to keep you occupied. First, we want to say that Dartmouth is an incredibly hard school to get into a 6% overall acceptance rate and a 20% ED acceptance rate put it solidly in that far reach category. You not getting in doesn mean you won get into another amazing school, and we can say with decades of wisdom that you will go to college and you will be successful!

Rejected Early Decision from Duke University 2024-2025

So, youve been rejected ED from Duke. First of all, were sorry, and were sure youre having a lot of feelings about this right now. And, since youre here, you probably want to know what you can do in this moment to take control of this situation. We want to say that Duke is a crazy hard school to get into they haven released precise data since 2021, but we know their acceptance rate hovers around 5%, and their ED acceptance rate is about 15%. That doesn mean it 3x more likely to get into Duke ED. It means you have about the same chance you would if you applied to Georgetown, Berkeley, or UVA aka, hard. That also means this is not a reflection of you or your talents or smarts or overall coolness, but rather that these schools have very limited spots and have to leave lots and lots of deserving students out of the mix.

Rejected Early Decision from Columbia University 2024-2025

If youre here, we know you probably just got rejected from Columbia, and you don know what to do next were sorry that happened, and we know it feels awful. First of all, this admissions decision is not a reflection of who you are as a person or of your hard work and talent. It important to remember that, especially in the Ivy League, there are countless students who are more than qualified to get in, and there simply not enough space for all of you. You will go to an amazing school, even if it doesn't feel like it right now.

Rejected Early Action or Early Decision from U Chicago 2024-2025

No one wants to be rejected, but if you are reading this blog, it happened. First off, sorry! Whether you applied ED or EA, the University of Chicago was important enough for you to apply early. Especially if you applied ED, this might feel like a major setback, but application season is far from over, and it's time to pivot! We want to help by telling you how.