Admission

Early Applicant Information

Early Decision & Early Action

Many colleges and universities nationwide have experienced a significant increase in students applying Early Action or Early Decision. Each year, about half our applicants chose to submit an early application and were enrolled through one of these rounds.

Colorado College is distinctive among highly selective colleges in that we choose to support a non-binding Early Action program as well as a binding Early Decision program, giving students greater flexibility to choose the option that is right for them. At the same time, this has resulted in a large increase in early applicants and a larger percentage of our class enrolling from an early round. 

Here are the answers to some frequently answered questions about the differences between Early Action and Early Decision at Colorado College:

What is the difference between Early Action and Early Decision?

Students applying Early Decision agree, if admitted, to enroll at Colorado College and to withdraw all active application and to not submit any additional applications. Hence, this is a binding agreement between the student and Colorado College.

If admitted Early Action, students have until May 1 to submit their deposits. Early Action is non-binding, and students can apply to other colleges and universities.

For the Class of 2029 (entering the fall of 2025), the overall admit was 22%. By round, the admit rates were as follows:

Early Decision I: 35%

Early Action: 26%

Early Decision II: 35%

Regular Action: 11%

Note: These admit rates are a reflection of the size and the relative depth and talent of each pool.

 

Our evaluation criteria will be the same for Early Decision, Early Action, and Regular Action. However, the admission committee will note that Early Decision applicants have selected Colorado College as their top choice college.

Students who identify Colorado College as their top choice college prior to November 1 are encouraged to apply Early Decision I. If admitted, students are expected to enroll and immediately withdraw all other applications.

Students who identify Colorado College as their top choice college after November 1 but before January 15 are encouraged to apply Early Decision II. Furthermore, students who would be more competitive in our process after submitting fall semester grades and/or additional test scores should apply Early Decision II. If admitted, students are expected to enroll and immediately withdraw all other applications.

Students who identify Colorado College as one of their top choice colleges by November 1 should consider applying Early Action. If admitted, students still have until May 1 to compare offers and respond.

 

All students who complete the required forms on time will receive a decision regarding their eligibility for financial aid. While the financial aid office is willing to discuss individual awards with a student or parent/guardian, our policy is to gather information and explain our methodology rather than to negotiate awards. If an Early Decision admit does not deposit by the candidate's reply date (mid-January for EDI and mid-February for EDII), the vice president for enrollment will make the decision to grant an extension or close out a student's file.

Applicants must submit all required financial aid application documents on or before the admission application due date. If students demonstrate eligibility for financial aid, they will receive an estimated award based upon current year cost of attendance with their admission decision letter. Early Decision admits will be expected to commit based on our estimated award. All students will receive a final award in March once the cost of attendance has been set for the following year.

We encourage all students and parents to be informed about our admission and financial aid policies. Given that Early Decision involves a binding contract, students considering this option who are interested in applying for need-based financial aid should, before applying for admission, use our Net Price Calculator, a tool which gives students an early indication of the amounts and types of financial aid for which they might qualify. If you or your parents have concerns about affordability after reviewing these estimates and/or meeting with Student Financial Services, we recommend that you consider applying Early Action or Regular Decision (and not Early Decision).

All students who complete the required forms on time will receive a decision regarding their eligibility for financial aid. While the financial aid office is willing to discuss individual awards with a student or parent/guardian, our policy is to gather information and explain our methodology rather than to negotiate awards. If an Early Decision admit does not deposit by the candidate's reply date (mid-January for EDI and mid-February for EDII), the vice president for enrollment will make the decision to grant an extension or close out a student's file.

Our financial aid methodology will remain the same for all applicants. Financial aid applicants are encouraged to complete our Net Price Calculator.

All admitted students, including those admitted under Early Action or Early Decision I and II, will be considered for merit scholarships. Early Decision or Early Action admits will not be disadvantaged in this process.

The admission committee will choose to admit, defer, or deny applicants if they choose to apply Early Action or Early Decision I. Deferred applicants will be asked to opt in for further review in our Early Decision II or Regular Action pool and will either be admitted or denied in February or March respectively. Students denied admission will not be reviewed again during that application cycle. All admission decisions are final, and there is no appeal process at Colorado College.

 

If a student has strong interest in a gap semester or gap year, they are encouraged to indicate their intent at the time they submit their application. We do make offers of admission for gap semester and gap year within each round.

The Admission Committee reserves the right to choose students for any all all entry points, regardless of an applicant's expressed interest in or or more of these programs. These include admission to a gap semester or gap year.

 

All Early Decision admits have the choice to accept their admission by submitting their enrollment form on or before the specified date or they may choose to decline admission. If a student declines admission, they will be released from the Early Decision agreement and their file will be closed out.

If a student is only interested in fall admission but is offered to take a gap semester or gap year, they may decline their offer of admission and request to be added to our waiting list. Please note that the student would be foregoing a space in the class without a guarantee of subsequent admission later on. These students are recommended to secure a deposit at another institution by May 1.

If you have questions about our Early Action or Early Decision programs, you are encouraged to call our office at (800) 542-7214 to speak with an admission officer. All financial aid related questions should be directed to Student Financial Services.

show all / hide all

Admission Deferral Process

Each year, the Admission Committee must make tough decisions about students that possess many of the strengths we expect our admitted students to present in their applications. Students that are deferred in either our Early Decision I or Early Action round are not eliminated from admission consideration, in fact, we feel those applications deserve another review. However, for us to further consider an application, we require each deferred student to opt-in via the deferral response survey. Deferred students will be contacted in mid-January via email; the deadline to complete the deferral survey is in early February for binding consideration and mid-February for non-binding consideration. 

Students may elect to be considered in either our Early Decision II round (binding) or Regular Action round (non-binding), and can consider alternate start programs from a Gap Semester (Winter Start) to a Gap Year. Each year close to 100 students matriculate these programs and report having rewarding and exciting experiences prior to beginning their studies on campus. By listing more than one option, the Admission Committee is able to consider students for any and all of these programs and this could enhance a student's chance of admission. We encourage students to carefully research all alternate entry options but to only list options that are of genuine interest to the candidate.

Here are some answers to frequently asked questions about the deferral process at Colorado College:

If I choose EDII, is this a binding commitment for all entry terms I select?

Yes. If you choose EDII and are admitted to Colorado College for any of the entry terms you select, you are agreeing to submit your enrollment deposit, to withdraw all active applications, and not to submit any additional applications.

We will begin reading EDII applications in mid-January and expect to release decisions by mid-February. As long as you submit a completed Defer Survey by early February, your application will be reviewed in the round you selected.

Regular Action decisions will be released in late March.

On occasion, we will place deferred students on the Waiting List if we believe they might be competitive for admission in May.

Students should indicate an interest in pursuing a gap year on their application or on the defer survey. Students admitted for the upcoming fall term can write to us directly to request a gap year. See our gap experience page for more on how to request a gap year.

We cannot guarantee admission to another entry term once you are offered admission. However, you can write directly to us to request an alternate entry term.

Typically, we will admit around 40% of deferred students who complete the defer survey. While many of these students are admitted for the fall semester, some are offered a place in our Gap Semester (Winter Start) or Gap Year entry terms.

show all / hide all

Report an issue - Last updated: 11/05/2025