College admissions deadlines tend to sneak up on you before you’re ready. That’s why we at Ivy Coach advise you to complete all of your application materials — which means finalize drafts, proofread essays, and secure letters of recommendation — well before the Early Decision/Action deadline, even for Regular Decision applications! Does this sound excessive? Tell that to our clients, who routinely finalize their applications well before deadlines because they’ve started the process with our help months and sometimes years before admissions season. 

But sometimes, even the best-laid plans don’t budget enough time. That’s why today we’d like to focus on the schools that allow Regular Decision applications to come past the standard January 1st deadline. Let’s review:

Elite Schools With Extended Regular Decision Deadlines

School	2025 US News Rank (“Best National Universities”)	2025 Regular Decision Application Deadline
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	#2	January 6th
Stanford University	#4	January 5th
Yale University	#5	January 2nd
California Institute of Technology	#6	January 3rd
Duke University	#6	January 2nd
Johns Hopkins University	#6	January 2nd
University of Pennsylvania	#10	January 5th
Cornell University	#11	January 2nd
University of Chicago	#11	January 6th
Brown University	#13	January 3rd
Dartmouth College	#15	January 2nd
Rice University	#18	January 4th
University of Notre Dame	#18	January 3rd
Carnegie Mellon University	#21	January 2nd
University of Michigan – Ann Arbor	#21	February 1st
Washington University in St. Louis	#21	January 3rd
Georgetown University	#24	January 10th
University of Virginia	#24	January 5th

Among the schools on this list are five of the eight Ivies (Yale University, University of Pennsylvania, Cornell University, Brown University, and Dartmouth College), both the California Institute of Technology and the Massachusetts Institutes of Technology, Georgetown University (which is notably due on January 10th!), and a variety of highly selective public universities, including the University of Michigan (due on February 1st!).

In the face of this trend of pushing deadlines back, it’s worth asking: why? What do elite schools get out of this unorthodox decision? The answer may surprise you — but probably won’t!

How Extended Deadlines Play into College Prestige and Acceptance Rates

College admissions is increasingly a numbers game. With top schools competing for the lowest acceptance rate and highest rank on such lists as the US News ranking of top national universities, extended deadlines are simply a bid to drive up the total number of applications and, in turn, drive down the acceptance rate. They might claim they don’t care about such superficial prestige metrics, but they certainly do!

It’s incredibly telling that some of the most prestigious schools in the nation, including Yale University, Princeton University, and Harvard University don’t have extended deadlines. It’s almost like their way of saying, “We’re above this desperate bid for lower acceptance rates!” For the record, they aren’t, but their reputations and popularity among academically ambitious high schoolers means they are freed from some of these competitive pressures. This underscores the importance of having your applications locked and loaded well before the deadline and, ideally, well before the holidays! It’s not your future school’s job to keep you accountable to their application schedule. 

Ivy Coach’s Assistance With Crafting a Strategic Application Timeline

So whose job is it, anyway? Ivy Coach’s team of former elite college admissions officers would be happy to help your child stay on track during admissions season. The earlier you come to us, the more we’ll be able to help your child craft a competitive application oriented around their singular hook: the unique pursuit, discipline, passion, or cause that informs every part of their application. Let us take on the stress of keeping your child accountable so you don’t have to, freeing you to focus on supporting your child during this stressful and time-consuming process.

If you’re interested in optimizing your child’s odds of admission to a highly selective school, fill out our complimentary consultation form and we’ll be in touch.