Early Decision
William & Mary Early Decision Acceptance Rate 2025-2026
VA
What is William & Mary's early decision acceptance rate?
William & Mary admitted 49.8% of its Early Decision applicants — 735 of 1,477 — according to its 2025-2026 Common Data Set. Everyone else in the same applicant pool was admitted at 35.7%, so the Early Decision rate was 1.4x the rest. These are the counts the school itself reported, not an estimate.
Source: William & Mary's Common Data Set 2025-2026.
What William & Mary reported · Common Data Set 2025-2026
Early Decision · 735 admitted of 1,477 applied
49.8%
Everyone else in the same pool
35.7%
Early Decision rate ÷ rest-of-pool rate
1.4x
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.
Does applying early decision to William & Mary help?
On William & Mary's figures, Early Decision applicants were admitted at 1.4x the rate of everyone else: 49.8% against 35.7%. 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: William & Mary's Common Data Set 2025-2026.
Is early decision at William & Mary binding?
Yes. Early Decision is binding wherever it is offered, William & Mary 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: William & Mary's Common Data Set 2025-2026.
When is William & Mary's early decision deadline?
For the 2026-27 application cycle, William & Mary 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: William & Mary's admissions website, 2026-27 cycle, checked Sep 27, 2026.
Admitted SAT · middle 50% · College Scorecard 2024
1400–1530
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).
In-state students only.
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, William & Mary's overall acceptance rate fell from 35.9% to 34.1%. 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. William & Mary’s filing