Early Decision 2 is basically a second round of binding admissions. Early Decision II allows students to enter into a binding agreement with a college later on in the admissions cycle.

Why Schools Offer It

Colleges offer Early Decision 2 (and early decision in general) to improve their yield rates, or how many admitted students end up attending the school. Another round of early decision means that students have more time to decide to commit to a school.

So should you do it?

There are a few reasons why you might want to apply through an Early Decision 2 plan. If you applied to another school Early Decision and got denied, but have a definitive second choice that you are willing to commit to, Early Decision 2 might be a good idea for you.

Or, alternatively, if you need more time to decide to commit to a particular school, you might want to wait until the second round of Early Decision to apply. Maybe you hadn’t gotten the chance to visit prior to the ED 1 deadline, or maybe you wanted to take the SAT or ACT one last time before applying. Ultimately, applying Early Decision 2 is not a bad way to go and can increase your chances of getting into your dream school in highly competitive college admissions processes.

Just know that Early Decision 2 tends to be more competitive than Early Decision 1— many bright applicants who got rejected or deferred from top schools during ED1 will try at slightly lower ranked schools ED 2.  

What schools offer Early Decision 2? 

Thankfully, a lot! Below is a list of schools that offer Early Decision 2 admissions plans. Be sure to check out the college website for their deadlines.

•           American University
•           Babson College
•           Bates College
•           Boston University
•           Bennington College
•           Bentley University
•           Bowdoin College
•           Brandeis University
•           Bryant University
•           Bryn Mawr College
•           Bucknell University
•           Carleton College
•           Case Western Reserve University
•           Claremont McKenna College
•           Colby College
•           Colgate University
•           College of the Atlantic
•           College of the Holy Cross
•           College of William and Mary
•           College of Wooster
•           Colorado College
•           Connecticut College
•           Davidson College
•           Denison College
•           Dickinson College
•           Emory University
•           Franklin & Marshall College
•           George Washington University
•           Gettysburg College
•           Grinnell College
•           Hamilton College
•           Harvey Mudd College
•           Haverford College
•           Hobart and William Smith Colleges
•           Juniata College
•           Kenyon College
•           Lafayette College
•           Lehigh University
•           Macalester College
•           Middlebury College
•           Mount Holyoke College
•           New York University
•           Northeastern University
•           Oberlin College
•           Occidental College
•           Pitzer College
•           Pomona College
•           Reed College
•           Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
•           Rhodes College
•           Saint Olaf College
•           Santa Clara College
•           Sarah Lawrence College
•           Scripps College
•           Sewanee: The University of the South
•           Skidmore College
•           Smith College
•           Swarthmore College
•           Syracuse University
•           Trinity College
•           Trinity University
•           Tufts University
•           Tulane University
•           Union College
•           University of Chicago
•           University of Miami
•           University of Richmond
•           Vanderbilt University
•           Vassar College
•           Wake Forest University
•           Washington University
•           Washington and Lee University
•           Wellesley College
•           Wesleyan University
•           Whitman College