Tufts Early Decision 2026: 32% Across Two Rounds, and the Cost Question to Ask First
6 min read·Sep 27, 2026
Tufts gives you two chances to use Early Decision, and its newest filing shows why so many applicants take one of them.
Early Decision I closes in early November. Early Decision II closes in early January, after most other early results are out. Both rounds are binding. Together, according to Tufts' 2025-26 Common Data Set, they admitted 32% of the students who applied through them.
The numbers from Tufts' own filing
The 2025-26 Common Data Set reports 3,344 Early Decision applications and 1,071 admits. The full first-year pool was 33,415 applications and 3,613 admits. Take the early round out of the pool and compare it with everyone who applied regular:
Tufts, fall 2025 entering class
Applied
Admitted
Rate
Early Decision (I and II)
3,344
1,071
32.0%
Everyone else
30,071
2,542
8.5%
Total
33,415
3,613
10.8%
That is a 3.8× gap. It is in the same range as Brown (3.7×), and a little above Penn (3.6×) and Northwestern (3.5×).
The early round made up 10% of applications and produced 30% of all offers. Tufts makes close to a third of its offers to students who committed in advance.
These figures combine ED I and ED II. Tufts doesn't split them in the form, so there is no public way to tell which round is more generous.
What ED II is actually for
ED II is not a second helping of ED I. It exists for a specific situation, and it helps to be honest about whether you are in it.
It works well if:
You were deferred or denied in another school's early round and Tufts is your real next choice.
You weren't ready in November. Maybe a senior-fall grade trend or a stronger essay makes your file better in January.
Your family needed more time to look at the cost before signing a binding agreement.
It works badly if:
You are using it as a fallback for a school you don't actually want. A binding yes in February still binds you.
You are counting on it to rescue a list with no realistic regular-round options.
The filing lists ED II with a closing date in early January and notification in mid-February. That timing matters. An ED II admit arrives while regular decisions from other schools are still pending, and you will be withdrawing those applications before seeing them.
Why 3.8× isn't a promise
The gap describes two different groups, not a boost you receive by switching rounds.
Early pools at selective schools lean toward applicants with a reason to commit early. Recruited athletes, students with family ties, and those who have known for a long time where they want to go all tend to apply early. Tufts' filing lists alumni relationship as "considered." Without any of those factors, the edge for a typical early applicant is smaller than 3.8×. By most careful accounts it is still real, but a good part of that ratio comes from who applies early rather than when they apply.
What Tufts says it weighs
The 2025-26 Common Data Set, section C7, marks these as very important:
Rigor of your secondary school record
Class rank
GPA
The application essay
Recommendations
Character and personal qualities
Extracurricular activities and talent are important. Test scores, the interview, demonstrated interest and alumni relationship are considered.
Tufts is test-optional. For enrolled students who sent scores, the middle 50% SAT range is 1470–1560 (College Scorecard). If you are inside it, sending the score is a reasonable choice. Tufts' admissions office has published guidance on how it reads submitted scores, and it's worth reading before you decide.
The money is where Tufts differs most
This is the section to show your parents.
Tufts' cost of attendance is $88,300. Here is the average net price by family income (College Scorecard, 2023-24, federal aid recipients):
Family income
Tufts
For comparison: Duke
$0–30,000
$11,284
$735
$48,000–75,000
$14,923
$5,706
$75,000–110,000
$23,311
$17,100
Over $110,000
$58,570
$54,230
At every income level in this table, the average Tufts family paid more than the average Duke family. The difference is largest for lower-income families, where Tufts averaged about $10,500 more a year.
Don't count on merit money either. In the same filing, 52 first-year students without financial need received a Tufts scholarship that wasn't based on need, averaging $23,157. That's roughly 3% of an entering class of about 1,760. For most families, the need-based aid offer is the whole offer.
None of this means Tufts is unaffordable. It means the net price calculator matters more here than at some peers, and it matters before you sign. With ED II especially, you have time to run it properly.
Should Tufts get your Early Decision?
It should if all three are true:
Tufts is a real first choice, in whichever round you use. In ED I that means your top school. In ED II it means your top remaining school, not the least bad option.
Your record fits. Strong rigor and grades, and either a score in or near 1470–1560 or a transcript that carries the file without one.
Your family has run the numbers and can live with them. At Tufts this is the condition most likely to fail, especially for families below $110,000.
If the third one fails, Regular Decision keeps your options open. You can compare offers from Tufts and anywhere else you are admitted.
Tufts' 2025-26 filing lists Early Decision I closing in early November with notification in mid-December, and Early Decision II closing in early January with notification in mid-February. Confirm this year's exact dates on Tufts' admissions site.
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Early Decision, first-year pool, admission-factor and non-need scholarship figures are from Tufts University's 2025-26 Common Data Set, sections C1, C7, C21 and H2A, published by Tufts' Office of Institutional Research. SAT range and net price are institution-reported figures published through the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard. Results are data-based analysis and do not guarantee admission.
In the 2025-2026 Common Data Set, Tufts University admitted 1,071 of 3,344 Early Decision applicants — an Early Decision acceptance rate of 32.0%.
Everyone who did not apply Early Decision that 2025-2026 cycle: 2,542 admitted out of 30,071, a rate of 8.5%. The Early Decision rate is 3.79× the rest-of-pool rate.
Early Decision pools are not a random slice of the applicant pool — recruited athletes, legacy applicants and QuestBridge matches are concentrated in them. These figures describe a differently composed group of applicants, so neither the rate nor the ratio is a number you can apply to your own chances.
Source: official Common Data Set filing
Where do you stand?
School
Tufts University
Tufts University
SAT
4001470–1560
Middle 50% of admitted students scored 1470–1560.
This is SAT only — one slice of an application, not the whole of it.
What Tufts University actually costs
Price the college postsPublished cost of attendance — tuition, fees, housing and food. College Scorecard (AY 2023–24)
$88,300/yr
What families actually payAvg. for families receiving federal aid College Scorecard (AY 2023–24)
$39,998/yr
The differenceCalculated from the two figures above. (AY 2023–24)
55% less
International students are not eligible for U.S. federal aid, so they are not in this cohort and typically pay closer to the sticker price.
High-income families typically pay closer to sticker.
Results are data-based estimates and do not guarantee admission. This article is for informational purposes only and does not guarantee admission outcomes. All data is based on publicly available information and may not reflect current admissions standards.
Written by Justin L. — data analysis on U.S. federal education datasets (IPEDS · College Scorecard).
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