Early Decision in Upstate New York: Twice the Rate at Vassar, Lower at Clarkson (2026)

Colgate is in the village of Hamilton, New York. Hamilton College is in Clinton, less than 30 miles away. In their 2024–25 filings the two admitted almost the same share of applicants overall: 13.9% at Colgate and 13.6% at Hamilton. Their Early Decision applicants fared very differently. Hamilton admitted 29.4% of them, 2.5 times everyone else's rate. Colgate admitted 19.5%, about 1.5 times.

That kind of spread runs across upstate New York, from Poughkeepsie in the Hudson Valley to Potsdam in the North Country. Here are seven colleges along the way. Six of these early rounds are new here; Syracuse's multiple, about 1.2, is in Early Decision or Early Action at the same school.

"Everyone else" is every first-year applicant who didn't apply Early Decision. That rate, the differences and the multiples in this post are our arithmetic from each college's own counts. Colgate's figures are from its 2024–25 filing, the most recent one we have; the other six are from 2025–26.

Six more upstate colleges are in other posts. Hamilton and Skidmore admitted early applicants at 2.5 and 1.9 times everyone else's rate (our liberal arts roundup). At the University of Rochester, RIT and Rensselaer, the early round made almost no difference: 41.8% against 41.9%, 73.2% against 71.0%, and 69.1% against 67.2% (colleges where Early Decision gave no advantage). Cornell has its own post.

Vassar: the only one of the seven that doubles the rate

Vassar admitted 38.4% of its 1,046 Early Decision applicants in 2025–26 and 19.1% of everyone else, almost exactly twice the rate. About one applicant in eleven applied early, and that group received 17% of the year's offers.

Its second binding round closes January 1, the same day as its regular deadline. A student who settles on Vassar over winter break can still apply with the binding promise and gives up no time by doing it. The first round closes November 15.

Colgate and Syracuse: large early rounds, modest edges

Colgate's early round is large for its size. About one applicant in eight applied Early Decision, and those 2,447 students received about 17% of Colgate's offers. The edge they got is the unusual part. We have early-round figures for 34 colleges that admitted fewer than 16% of applicants and drew at least 400 Early Decision applicants. At 25 of them, early applicants were admitted at two to four times everyone else's rate. Colgate's 1.5 was the smallest of the 34; Rice's, also about 1.5, was next. If you're deciding between Colgate and Hamilton for your one binding application, the gap between 19.5% and 29.4% is worth knowing before you choose.

Syracuse ran the biggest early round of the seven: 2,654 applicants, 55.7% of them admitted, against 48.4% of everyone else. That's about 7 points. This cycle Syracuse also added a non-binding Early Action round next to its two binding ones, which we wrote about when USC and Michigan added Early Decision. A student who likes Syracuse but isn't sure can now get an early answer without the promise, and in its latest filing the promise came with about 7 points.

The small rounds: Union, Marist and Ithaca

Fewer than 400 students applied Early Decision at each of these three, so we compare them in points. Union's early round added about 6. Marist's added 17 and Ithaca's 15, but Ithaca's round is tiny: 98 early applicants out of 12,735, fewer than one in a hundred. With rounds this small, a handful of decisions can move the rate from one year to the next.

Union and Marist both close their second binding round on the same day as their regular deadline: January 15 at Union, February 15 at Marist.

Clarkson: early applicants did worse

Clarkson admitted 75.7% of its 235 Early Decision applicants and 82.8% of everyone else. In a round that small, read it as no edge rather than as a penalty. Its Early Decision deadline is also late, December 1 on the Common App's list. If Clarkson is your first choice, applying early gets you an earlier answer, not better odds.

The prices are as far apart as the edges

For families earning $75,001–$110,000, the average net price in 2023–24 was $21,831 at Colgate, $25,773 at Vassar, $28,780 at Syracuse, $30,990 at Clarkson, $31,846 at Ithaca, $34,100 at Union and $42,001 at Marist. Marist's early round added 17 points, and for a family in that band it cost nearly twice what Colgate did.

Early Decision commits you to a college's aid offer before you can compare it with others. Look up the figure for your own income band before you sign the agreement.

If one of these is your first choice

At Vassar, the early round has doubled the rate, and the January 1 round leaves time to decide. At Colgate and Syracuse, the edge is modest; apply early because you're sure, and at Syracuse, weigh the new Early Action round. At Marist, Union and Ithaca, the early rounds help on top of rates that are already high. At Clarkson, the binding round hasn't helped at all.

About the numbers

Applicants and admits come from each college's latest Common Data Set: 2025–26 for Vassar, Syracuse, Union, Marist, Clarkson and Ithaca, and 2024–25 for Colgate and Hamilton. Section C1 covers the whole first-year pool and C21 the Early Decision round. Rates for everyone else, the differences and the multiples are our calculation. Net prices are College Scorecard averages for 2023–24, for families who received federal aid. Deadlines are for students entering in fall 2027, read in September 2026 from the Common App's deadline list and the colleges' admissions pages; "Not listed" means the Common App shows a single Early Decision date. Confirm them before you apply.

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