Early Decision
Northwestern University Early Decision Acceptance Rate 2024-2025
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What is Northwestern University's early decision acceptance rate?
Northwestern University admitted 23.0% of its Early Decision applicants — 1,186 of 5,154 — according to its 2024-2025 Common Data Set. Everyone else in the same applicant pool was admitted at 5.9%, so the Early Decision rate was 3.9x the rest. These are the counts the school itself reported, not an estimate.
Source: Northwestern University's Common Data Set 2024-2025.
What Northwestern University reported · Common Data Set 2024-2025
Early Decision · 1,186 admitted of 5,154 applied
23.0%
Everyone else in the same pool
5.9%
Early Decision rate ÷ rest-of-pool rate
3.9x
This compares two rates the school published for two groups of applicants. The Early Decision pool is not a random slice of the applicants — recruited athletes, legacy applicants and QuestBridge matches are counted inside it — so this is a difference between the school’s two pools, not a multiplier on your own chances.
Does applying early decision to Northwestern University help?
On Northwestern University's figures, Early Decision applicants were admitted at 3.9x the rate of everyone else: 23.0% against 5.9%. That does not mean applying early would lift your own odds that much. Recruited athletes, legacy applicants and QuestBridge matches sit inside that pool, so part of the gap is who applies early, not when.
Source: Northwestern University's Common Data Set 2024-2025.
Is early decision at Northwestern University binding?
Yes. Early Decision is binding wherever it is offered, Northwestern University included: you may apply Early Decision to only one school, and if admitted you commit to attend and withdraw your other applications. The usual exception is an aid offer your family cannot afford, so check the costs on this page before you apply.
Source: Northwestern University's Common Data Set 2024-2025.
When is Northwestern University's early decision deadline?
For the 2026-27 application cycle, Northwestern University set its Early Decision deadline at Nov 1, 2026. Regular Decision applications are due Jan 4, 2027. Early Decision is binding: if admitted, you commit to attend, so compare the costs on this page before that date, not after an offer arrives.
Source: Northwestern University's admissions website, 2026-27 cycle, checked Sep 27, 2026.
Admitted SAT · middle 50% · College Scorecard 2024
1510–1570
Half of admitted students scored inside this range. It is the admitted band, not a minimum and not a cutoff, and it covers the whole entering class rather than the Early Decision round alone.
What families actually pay (AY 2023–24)
Early Decision is binding, so accepting one ends the option of comparing two aid offers. These are the published averages before that choice is made.
Average paid by students receiving federal aid, by family income (College Scorecard).
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.
Across the 8 recorded cycles from 2017 to 2024, Northwestern University's overall acceptance rate fell from 9.2% to 7.7%. That is the whole entering class — Early Decision, Early Action and Regular Decision together — not the Early Decision round on its own.
See the year-by-year series →Common Data Set — the school's own annual filing, published by the school itself for the cycle named beside each figure. Northwestern University’s filing