Early Decision
Washington and Lee University Early Decision Acceptance Rate 2025-2026
VA
What is Washington and Lee University's early decision acceptance rate?
Washington and Lee University admitted 27.6% of its Early Decision applicants — 289 of 1,048 — according to its 2025-2026 Common Data Set. Everyone else in the same applicant pool was admitted at 11.7%, so the Early Decision rate was 2.4x the rest. These are the counts the school itself reported, not an estimate.
Source: Washington and Lee University's Common Data Set 2025-2026.
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What Washington and Lee University reported · Common Data Set 2025-2026 · checked Oct 2026
Early Decision · 289 admitted of 1,048 applied
27.6%
Everyone else in the same pool
11.7%
Early Decision rate ÷ rest-of-pool rate
2.4x
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 Washington and Lee University
Outside Early Decision, Washington and Lee University admitted 925 of 7,915 applicants in the 2025-2026 cycle: 11.7%. 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 Washington and Lee University help?
On Washington and Lee University's figures, Early Decision applicants were admitted at 2.4x the rate of everyone else: 27.6% against 11.7%. 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: Washington and Lee University's Common Data Set 2025-2026.
Is early decision at Washington and Lee University binding?
Yes. Early Decision is binding wherever it is offered, Washington and Lee 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: Washington and Lee University's Common Data Set 2025-2026.
When is Washington and Lee University's early decision deadline?
For the 2026-27 application cycle, Washington and Lee University set its Early Decision deadline at Nov 1, 2026. Its Early Decision II round closes Jan 5, 2027. Regular Decision applications are due Jan 5, 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
1430–1540
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).
Aid exceeded cost of attendance.
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, Washington and Lee University's overall acceptance rate fell from 22.0% to 14.0%. 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: Washington and Lee University’s 2025-2026 Common Data Set.