Early Decision
Southern Methodist University Early Decision Acceptance Rate 2025-2026
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What is Southern Methodist University's early decision acceptance rate?
Southern Methodist University admitted 80.3% of its Early Decision applicants — 424 of 528 — according to its 2025-2026 Common Data Set. Everyone else in the same applicant pool was admitted at 46.9%, so the Early Decision rate was 1.7x the rest. These are the counts the school itself reported, not an estimate.
Source: Southern Methodist University's Common Data Set 2025-2026.
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What Southern Methodist University reported · Common Data Set 2025-2026 · checked Oct 2026
Early Decision · 424 admitted of 528 applied
80.3%
Everyone else in the same pool
46.9%
Early Decision rate ÷ rest-of-pool rate
1.7x
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.
Regular Decision acceptance rate at Southern Methodist University
Outside Early Decision, Southern Methodist University admitted 11,035 of 23,525 applicants in the 2025-2026 cycle: 46.9%. That counts everyone who did not apply Early Decision.
Calculated from published counts · Common Data Set 2025-2026 · checked Oct 2026
Does applying early decision to Southern Methodist University help?
On Southern Methodist University's figures, Early Decision applicants were admitted at 1.7x the rate of everyone else: 80.3% against 46.9%. 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: Southern Methodist University's Common Data Set 2025-2026.
Is early decision at Southern Methodist University binding?
Yes. Early Decision is binding wherever it is offered, Southern Methodist 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: Southern Methodist University's Common Data Set 2025-2026.
When is Southern Methodist University's early decision deadline?
For the 2026-27 application cycle, Southern Methodist University set its Early Decision deadline at Nov 1, 2026. Its Early Decision II round closes Jan 15, 2027. Regular Decision applications are due Jan 15, 2027. Early Decision is binding, so compare the costs on this page before that date, not after an offer arrives.
Source: the Common App requirements grid, 2026-27 cycle, checked Sep 27, 2026.
Admitted SAT · middle 50% · College Scorecard 2024
1340–1490
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, Southern Methodist University's overall acceptance rate rose from 48.8% to 63.4%. 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. Source: Southern Methodist University’s 2025-2026 Common Data Set.