Early Decision at Pennsylvania Liberal Arts Colleges: Nearly Triple at Swarthmore, No Edge at F&M (2026)

Pennsylvania is home to a cluster of selective liberal arts colleges, and nearly all of them run Early Decision. What the binding round does for an applicant, though, depends on which one gets it. In their latest filings, Swarthmore admitted early applicants at almost three times everyone else's rate. Franklin & Marshall admitted them at the same rate as everyone else, to within a tenth of a point: 28.1% against 28.2%.

Five of these colleges have early rounds we haven't covered before, and they sort into three kinds.

The round that nearly triples the rate: Swarthmore

Swarthmore admitted 17.8% of its 1,281 Early Decision applicants in 2025–26 (Swarthmore's numbers) and 6.4% of everyone else, 2.8 times the rate. About one applicant in ten applied early, and that group received 23% of the year's offers.

Fewer than one early applicant in five got in, so this isn't a round to treat as a safe bet. The multiple is large because the regular round is so hard: 749 offers for 11,714 applicants. Swarthmore's second binding round closes January 4, the same day as its regular deadline, and the first round closes November 15.

Haverford, a short drive away on the Main Line, shows nearly the same pattern; it's in our liberal arts roundup.

The rounds that add a solid margin: Bucknell and Dickinson

"Everyone else" is every first-year applicant outside the Early Decision round; that rate and the points are our arithmetic from each college's counts.

Both early rounds admitted more than half their applicants. Bucknell's added 25 points, the largest gain among the Pennsylvania liberal arts colleges whose filings we've read, and it supplied 18% of Bucknell's admits. Dickinson's added about 17. At both, the second binding round closes on the regular deadline, so a student who applies there in January gives up nothing in time by making it binding.

The rounds that don't move the rate: Franklin & Marshall and Gettysburg

Franklin & Marshall's figures are from its 2024–25 filing, the most recent one in our data. Its early round was almost perfectly proportional: Early Decision applicants were 9.7% of the pool and received 9.7% of the offers. Gettysburg's early applicants were admitted slightly less often than everyone else in 2025–26.

At these two, Early Decision doesn't buy odds. It buys a December answer, and it commits you to the college's aid offer before you can compare. That can still be the right trade for a student who is sure, but it's a different trade from Bucknell's. One date to note if Gettysburg is a January decision for you: its second binding round closes January 20, after its regular deadline, as we noted in one round or two.

The rest of the state

We've covered several other Pennsylvania colleges already. Bryn Mawr is in Early Decision at six women's colleges. Lafayette and Lehigh appear in four Early Decision toss-ups, and Villanova has its own post.

Choosing among them

If Swarthmore is your first choice, the early round is where your odds are best, 17.8% against 6.4%, but it's still a reach for nearly everyone. If it's Bucknell or Dickinson, the early round adds a real margin on top of an already reachable rate. If it's Franklin & Marshall or Gettysburg, apply early for certainty, and only if you'd accept the aid offer as it comes. Gettysburg and Dickinson also run non-binding Early Action rounds this year, both due November 15 on the Common App's deadline list, so at those two you can apply early without the promise.

Sources

Applicants and admits come from each college's latest Common Data Set: 2025–26 for Swarthmore, Bucknell, Dickinson and Gettysburg, 2024–25 for Franklin & Marshall. Section C1 covers the whole first-year pool and C21 the Early Decision round. Rates for everyone else, points and shares are our calculation. Deadlines are for students entering in fall 2027, read in September 2026 from the colleges' admissions pages and the Common App; confirm them before you apply.

If one of these is the college you're leaning toward, look at what it published and where your score sits, free. The full answer across your whole list is the paid document.