Regular Decision Notification Dates 2027: Release Windows by College for the Class of 2031
By Rona Aydin
When do Regular Decision results come out for fall 2027 entry?
Between mid-March and early April 2027, by each college’s own statement. The earliest windows are MIT (“admission decisions are released in mid-March”, MIT Admissions), Caltech (“a notification date of mid-March”, Caltech Admissions) and Bowdoin (“Mid-March”, Bowdoin Admissions). Johns Hopkins is the one college in this calendar that names a day: “March 24, 2027” (Johns Hopkins Admissions). The eight Ivy League colleges release on a common day in late March. At the late end, Stanford says “by early April” (Stanford Admission), Michigan says “by April 2” (Michigan Admissions), and a long list of colleges say April 1 or by April 1: WashU, Rice, Georgetown, Tufts, Emory, Carnegie Mellon, USC, NYU, Williams, Pomona, Swarthmore, Carleton, Davidson, Colby and Claremont McKenna. Last cycle the three dated releases we can document from official pages were MIT on Saturday, March 14, 2026 (MIT Admissions blog, March 14, 2026), Ivy Day on Thursday, March 26, 2026 (Brown news, March 26, 2026; Yale News, March 26, 2026) and Duke on Tuesday, March 31, 2026 (Duke Today, March 31, 2026).
The windows below are the colleges’ published wording for the 2026-27 cycle, read on November 6 and 7, 2026. Several pages (UC Berkeley, Penn) say that the exact day is sent to applicants by email or shown in the portal, so the portal is the authority once a date is set. Our Early Decision notification dates calendar covers the December 2026 releases, and our guide to what to do after a deferral covers the students who are waiting on both rounds.
What is Ivy Day, and when is Ivy Day 2027?
Ivy Day is the common day on which all eight Ivy League colleges release their Regular Decision results. The Ivy League Joint Statement (Fall 2021) says: “On a common date, usually in late March, applicants to Ivy League institutions will be notified of admission decisions and financial aid awards.” The same statement sets the “Common Reply Date of May 1” (Ivy League Joint Statement, Fall 2021). Ivy Day 2026 was Thursday, March 26, 2026: “On Thursday, March 26, Brown University offered admission to 1,674 prospective members of its undergraduate Class of 2030” (Brown news), and Yale announced the same day that it had “offered admission to 2,328 of the 54,919 students who applied” (Yale News). Ivy Day 2027 has not been announced as of November 7, 2026; each college’s page gives only its window, and Penn says applicants learn “the exact time and date of our decision release at least one week ahead of time” (Penn Admissions). Our guide to when Ivy League decisions come out tracks the announcement, and our Ivy Day 2026 results post gives the Class of 2030 figures.
| College | Regular Decision deadline | Notification window (college wording, 2026-27 cycle) | Last release (Class of 2030) | Reply date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brown | January 5, 2027 | “Regular Decision applicants receive a decision by early April” | Thursday, March 26, 2026 (Brown news) | Not stated on the page read |
| Columbia | January 1, 2027 | “Late March Regular Decision admissions and financial aid decisions released”; deferred Early Decision applicants “notified by April 1” | March 26, 2026 (Ivy Day) | “May 1 Regular Decision response deadline for admitted students” |
| Cornell | January 2, 2027 | “Admission decisions for RD applicants will be available in late March” | March 26, 2026 (Cornell Chronicle: “the official notification date for the Ivy League”) | Not stated on the page read |
| Dartmouth | January 1, 2027 | “Late March or Early April Regular Decision admission notification”; deferred applicants “On or before April 1” | March 26, 2026 (Ivy Day) | “have until May 1” |
| Harvard | January 1, 2027 | “receive notification by the end of March” | March 26, 2026 (Ivy Day) | “Early May Reply deadline for admitted students. No deposit required” |
| Penn | January 5, 2027 | “applicants are notified of our decision in April”; exact time and date announced “at least one week ahead of time” | March 26, 2026 (Ivy Day) | Not stated on the page read |
| Princeton | January 1, 2027 | “Late March Decision Notification” | March 26, 2026 (Ivy Day) | “May 1 Candidate’s Reply Date” |
| Yale | January 2, 2027 | “Decisions Released: Late March”; “one of three admissions decisions in late March” | Thursday, March 26, 2026 (Yale News) | “until May 1 to reply” |
When do Stanford, MIT, Duke and other universities release Regular Decision results?
From mid-March (MIT and Caltech) to early April (Stanford, Duke, Michigan), with most saying late March or by April 1. The table gives each university’s wording, its Regular Decision deadline for fall 2027 entry, the last release date where an official post records one, and the reply date where the page states it. Only one release time is on record from an official page for last cycle: Duke says students accepted in Regular Decision “were notified beginning at 7 p.m. EDT on Tuesday,” March 31, 2026 (Duke Today); MIT posted decisions on March 14, 2026 without stating a time (MIT Admissions blog). In our experience, times are set a week or two before release and appear in the applicant portal or an email, so no time in this calendar should be treated as fixed for 2027.
| University | Regular Decision deadline | Notification window (college wording, 2026-27 cycle) | Last release (Class of 2030) | Reply date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stanford | January 5, 2027 (December 5 with an arts portfolio) | “Decision Released: by early April” | Not published by Stanford | “Student Reply Date: May 1” |
| MIT | January 4, 2027 | “admission decisions are released in mid-March” | Saturday, March 14, 2026 (MIT Admissions blog) | “May 1 … For admitted students: Enrollment decision reply form” |
| Caltech | January 4, 2027 | “a notification date of mid-March” | Not published on the pages read | “until May 1, 2027” for admitted students |
| Duke | January 4, 2027 | “Late March/Early April Decisions released” | Tuesday, March 31, 2026, “beginning at 7 p.m. EDT” (Duke Today) | Not stated on the page read |
| Northwestern | January 4, 2027 | “Late March: Regular Decision admission decision” (the deadline table says “March 2027”) | Not published on the page read | “May 1: Enrollment decision and tuition deposit” |
| Johns Hopkins | January 2, 2027 | “Decision Release … March 24, 2027” | Not published on the page read | “Reply-By Date … May 1, 2027” |
| UChicago | January 4, 2027 | “Decision Date Late March” | Not published on the page read | “Reply Date May 1st” |
| Vanderbilt | January 1, 2027 | “Late March 2027 … Admission decisions available” | Not published on the page read | May 1, 2027 |
| WashU | January 4, 2027 | “Admission decisions and financial aid offers released by … Apr. 1” | Not published on the page read | May 1 |
| Notre Dame | January 4, 2027 | “Students will receive their decision by mid- to late March” | Not published on the page read | Enrollment deposit “by May 1” |
| Rice | January 4, 2027 | “Admission decisions will be released by April 1” | Not published on the page read | “must submit an enrollment deposit by May 1” |
| Georgetown | January 1, 2027 | “Announcement of Admissions Decisions … By April 1” | Not published on the page read | “Reply Date for Admitted Students May 1” |
| Tufts | January 4, 2027 | “By April 1” | Not published on the page read | Not stated on the page read |
| Emory | January 1, 2027 | “Notification Deadline by April 1” | Not published on the page read | “Deposit Deadline May 1” |
| Carnegie Mellon | January 4, 2027 | “Notified by: No later than April 1” | Not published on the page read | “Enroll by: May 1” |
| USC | January 10, 2027 (most programs) | “Regular Decision applicants will be notified of a decision by April 1” | Not published on the page read | Not stated on the page read |
| NYU | January 5, 2027 | “Regular Decision January 5 April 1” | Not published on the page read | Not stated on the page read |
| UC Berkeley | November 30, 2026 (UC application; no early round) | “First-year decisions posted End of March”; exact dates “given to current applicants in confirmation emails and on the student application portal” | Not published on the page read | “First-year deadline to accept offer of admission May 1” |
| UCLA | November 30, 2026 (UC application) | “Late March Admission notification” | Not published on the page read | “May 1 Deadline to submit your enrollment deposit” |
| Michigan | February 1, 2027 | “Regular Decision notifications released by April 2” | Not published on the page read | “MAY 1 Enrollment Deposit Deadline for Fall Term for EA and RD applicants only” |
When do liberal arts colleges release Regular Decision results?
Mid-March at Bowdoin, late March at Amherst, Wellesley, Middlebury, Haverford, Wesleyan and Barnard, and April 1 or by April 1 at Williams, Pomona, Swarthmore, Carleton, Claremont McKenna, Davidson and Colby. Deadlines run from January 1 (Barnard and Wesleyan) to January 15 (Carleton). Hamilton is not in the table because its public pages give deadlines but no Regular Decision notification window. Our guides to the Williams acceptance rate, Swarthmore acceptance rate and Wellesley acceptance rate give the admit figures behind these dates.
| College | Regular Decision deadline | Notification window (college wording, 2026-27 cycle) | Reply date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Williams | January 4, 2027 | “Admission Decision by … April 1” | “Respond to Offer of Admission Deadline … May 1” |
| Amherst | January 5, 2027 | “notice of our admission decision will be sent by late March” | “you must reply to our offer by May 1, 2027” |
| Pomona | January 8, 2027 | “By April 1” | “May 1” |
| Swarthmore | January 4, 2027 | “Admission decisions are released online by April 1” | Not stated on the page read |
| Wellesley | January 8, 2027 | “Notification … Late March” | “May 1” |
| Bowdoin | January 5, 2027 | “Mid-March” | Not stated on the page read |
| Middlebury | January 4, 2027 | “late March” | Not stated on the page read |
| Carleton | January 15, 2027 | “Notification By: April 1” | Not stated on the page read |
| Claremont McKenna | January 10, 2027 | “Decision notification by April 1” | “Candidate’s reply is due May 1” |
| Davidson | January 11, 2027 | “Notification by: April 1” | Not stated on the page read |
| Wesleyan | January 1, 2027 | “Notification late March” (First Year Applicants page) | Not stated on the page read |
| Haverford | January 10, 2027 | “Late March” | “May 1” |
| Colby | January 4, 2027 | “On or before April 1” | Not stated on the page read |
| Barnard | January 1, 2027 | “Notification: Late March” | Not stated on the page read |
What are the three Regular Decision outcomes, and what follows each?
Admit, waitlist or deny. Yale states it directly: “Regular Decision applicants will receive one of three admissions decisions in late March: An offer of admission An offer to remain on Yale’s wait list A denial of admission.” It adds that admitted students “have until May 1 to reply to Yale’s offer of admission” and that students offered the wait list “may respond by May 1” (Yale Admissions timelines). A waitlist offer is a place in a pool the college turns to only after the reply date: MIT says it will not know whether it can select students from the wait list “until admitted students return their enrollment decisions in early May,” that its wait list is not ranked, and that “most people on the wait list will not be admitted. You should still accept the offer of admission from another college/university by its reply date, even if it means making a deposit” (MIT wait list FAQ). No college in this calendar publishes a waitlist admit rate on the pages we read, and the figures vary by year; MIT says that in recent years it has taken no one from the wait list in some years and “as many as 32” in others.
| Outcome | What to do | College wording |
|---|---|---|
| Admit | Compare offers and aid; reply by May 1, 2027 at the colleges above (Harvard: early May, no deposit required) | Columbia: “May 1 Regular Decision response deadline for admitted students”; Harvard: “Early May Reply deadline for admitted students. No deposit required” |
| Waitlist | Accept or decline the place by the date the college gives (Yale: “may respond by May 1”); deposit elsewhere by May 1; wait for movement after the reply date | MIT: it will not know whether it can select students from the wait list “until admitted students return their enrollment decisions in early May” |
| Deny | Final for this cycle; choose among the offers in hand | Yale lists “A denial of admission” as one of the three Regular Decision outcomes |
What is the May 1 Common Reply Date?
May 1, 2027 is the date by which admitted students reply to the colleges that use it. The Ivy League Joint Statement names a “Common Reply Date of May 1” (Ivy League Joint Statement), and the colleges in this calendar that print a reply date give May 1 (Columbia, Dartmouth, Princeton, Yale, Stanford, MIT, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, UChicago, Vanderbilt, WashU, Notre Dame, Rice, Georgetown, Emory, Carnegie Mellon, UC Berkeley, UCLA, Michigan, Williams, Amherst, Pomona, Wellesley, Claremont McKenna and Haverford), with Caltech saying admitted students “will then have until May 1, 2027” and Harvard saying “Early May Reply deadline for admitted students. No deposit required.” Harvard also tells admitted students to “wait until May 1 to make a final college choice” (Harvard first-year applicants). Waitlist activity begins after that date: MIT says it will have “no idea how many people, if any, we will take from the wait list until the second week of May at the earliest” (MIT wait list FAQ). Our guide to choosing between colleges before May 1 covers the decision itself.
How should you plan the weeks from March to May 2027?
In our view, the Regular Decision season runs in four steps, and the order protects both the offers in hand and any waitlist. First, from mid-March to April 2, 2027, log each decision as it posts and read the waitlist instructions in the portal the same day, since several colleges ask waitlisted students to opt in. Second, compare financial aid offers as they arrive with the decisions, and raise any appeal before the reply date rather than after it. Third, deposit at one college by May 1, 2027, even if you hold a waitlist place elsewhere; MIT says so in plain terms, and none of the pages we read waives the reply date for waitlisted students. Fourth, send one update to a college whose waitlist you accepted, through the channel it names, and then wait, because MIT says it turns to the wait list only after admitted students reply in early May. Oriel Admissions advises families to treat the waitlist as a possible second chance and the deposited college as the plan.
- Mid-March 2027: MIT, Caltech and Bowdoin windows open; Johns Hopkins March 24.
- Late March 2027: Ivy Day for all eight Ivy League colleges (date not yet announced); Notre Dame, UChicago, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, Amherst, Wellesley, Middlebury, Haverford, Wesleyan, Barnard, UCLA and UC Berkeley say late March or end of March.
- April 1 to 2, 2027: colleges saying by April 1 (WashU, Rice, Georgetown, Tufts, Emory, Carnegie Mellon, USC, NYU, Williams, Pomona, Swarthmore, Carleton, Davidson, Colby, Claremont McKenna), Stanford by early April, Brown by early April, Michigan by April 2.
- May 1, 2027: Common Reply Date; waitlist review begins afterward.
Frequently Asked Questions About Regular Decision Notification Dates
Between mid-March and early April 2027. MIT, Caltech and Bowdoin say mid-March, Johns Hopkins names March 24, 2027, the Ivy League colleges release together in late March, and Stanford, Michigan and many others say by April 1 or early April, according to each college admissions page read in November 2026.
Not yet announced. The Ivy League Joint Statement says the common release falls usually in late March. Ivy Day 2026 was Thursday, March 26, 2026, according to Brown news and Yale News. Penn says applicants learn the exact time and date at least one week ahead.
Most colleges do not publish a time in advance. Last cycle Duke released beginning at 7 p.m. EDT on March 31, 2026, according to Duke Today, and MIT posted decisions on March 14, 2026. The time for 2027 appears in the applicant portal or an email shortly before release.
MIT and Caltech say mid-March, Bowdoin says mid-March, Notre Dame says by mid- to late March, and Johns Hopkins names March 24, 2027. The UC campuses say late March or end of March.
Admit, waitlist or deny. Yale says Regular Decision applicants receive one of three decisions in late March: an offer of admission, an offer to remain on the wait list, or a denial. A denial is final for the cycle; a waitlist place is reviewed after admitted students reply in early May.
May 1, 2027. The Ivy League Joint Statement names a Common Reply Date of May 1, and the colleges in this calendar that print a reply date give May 1; Harvard says early May with no deposit required. Oriel Admissions advises depositing at one college by that date even while holding a waitlist place.
January 1 to 15, 2027 at nearly all of these colleges: January 1 at Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, Dartmouth, Vanderbilt, Georgetown, Emory, Wesleyan and Barnard; January 2 at Yale, Cornell and Johns Hopkins; January 4 or 5 at most others; January 15 at Carleton. Michigan closes February 1, 2027, and the UC application closed November 30, 2026.
After May 1. MIT says it cannot know whether it will take anyone from the wait list until admitted students return their enrollment decisions in early May, and that most people on the wait list will not be admitted. No college in this calendar publishes a waitlist admit rate on the pages we read.
Sources: Ivy League Joint Statement (Fall 2021, Princeton-hosted PDF), Harvard College, First-Year Applicants, Yale Undergraduate Admissions, Timelines, Yale News, March 26, 2026, Princeton Admission, First-Year Application Dates and Deadlines, Columbia Undergraduate Admissions, First-Year Applicants, Columbia Undergraduate Admissions, Early Decision, Penn Admissions, First-Year Applicants, Brown Undergraduate Admission, First-Year Applicants, Brown University news, March 26, 2026, Dartmouth Admissions, Apply to Dartmouth, Cornell Undergraduate Admissions, First-Year Applicants, Stanford Undergraduate Admission, First-Year Applicants, MIT Admissions, Deadlines and Requirements, MIT Admissions blog, March 14, 2026, MIT Admissions, Wait List FAQ, Caltech Undergraduate Admissions, First-Year Deadlines, Duke Undergraduate Admissions, Apply, Duke Today, March 31, 2026, Northwestern Undergraduate Admissions, Application Deadlines, Johns Hopkins Undergraduate Admissions, Application Deadlines and Requirements, UChicago College Admissions, Application, Vanderbilt Undergraduate Admissions, Apply, WashU Undergraduate Admissions, Application Dates and Deadlines, Notre Dame Undergraduate Admissions, Decision Planning, Rice Admission, First-Year Domestic Applicants, Georgetown Undergraduate Admissions, First-Year Applicants, Tufts Undergraduate Admissions, Applying to Tufts, Emory Admissions, Regular Decision, Carnegie Mellon Admission, Application Plans and Deadlines, USC Undergraduate Admission, First-Year Students, NYU Undergraduate Admissions, First-Year Applicants, University of California Admissions, Dates and Deadlines, UC Berkeley Office of Undergraduate Admissions, Dates and Deadlines, UCLA Undergraduate Admission, First-Year Applicants, University of Michigan Office of Undergraduate Admissions, Requirements and Deadlines, Williams College, How to Apply, Amherst College, First-Year Applicants, Pomona College, Paths to Apply, Swarthmore College, Application Materials and Deadlines, Wellesley College, First-Year Applicants, Bowdoin College, Dates and Deadlines, Middlebury College, Application Instructions and Deadlines, Carleton College, Apply, Claremont McKenna College, First-Year Application Instructions, Davidson College, Apply, Wesleyan University, First Year Applicants, Cornell Chronicle, March 26, 2026, Haverford College, Application Timeline, Colby College, Dates and Deadlines, Barnard College, The Application Process. All read November 6 to 7, 2026 .
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