| College | Fall entry | Spring entry | Fee | Common app? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harvard | March 1 | NA | $75 | Y |
| Princeton | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Yale | March 1 | NA | $75 | Y |
| Columbia | March 15 | NA | $80 | Y |
| Stanford | March 15 | NA | $90 | Y |
| U Penn | March 15 | NA | $75 | Y |
| Cal Tech | February 11 | NA | $75 | Y |
| MIT | February 15 | November 15 | $75 | N |
| Dartmouth | March 1 | NA | $80 | Y |
| Duke | March 15 | NA | $75 | Y |
| U Chicago | March 1 | NA | $75 | Y |
| Northwestern | May 1 | November 1 | $65 | Y |
| Johns Hopkins | March 15 | NA | $70 | Y |
| Washington U in St. Louis | April 1 | November 1 | $55 | Y |
| Brown | March 1 | NA | $75 | Y |
| Cornell | March 1 | October 1 | $70 | Y |
| Rice | March 15 | October 15 | $65 | Y |
| Vanderbilt | March 1 | NA | $50 | Y |
| Notre Dame | April 15 | November 1 | $65 | N |
| Emory | June 1 | November 1 | $40 | Y |
| Georgetown | March 1 | NA | $65 | N |
| UC Berkeley | November 30 | NA | $60 | N |
| Carnegie Mellon | March 1 | October 15 | $70 | Y |
| USC | February 1 | NA | $65 | N |
| UCLA | November 30 | NA | $60 | N |
| UVA | March 1 | November 1 | $60 | Y |
| Wake Forest | April 1 | November 1 | $50 | Y |
| Tufts | March 15 | NA | $70 | Y |
| U Michigan | February 1 | October 1 | $65 | Y |
| UNC Chapel Hill | March 1 | NA | $70 | N |
| Boston College | March 15 | November 1 | $70 | Y |
| College of William & Mary | March 1 | November 1 | $60 | Y |
| NYU | April 1 | November 1 | $70 | Y |
| Brandeis | April 1 | November 1 | $55 | Y |
| Georgia Tech | February 1 | October 1 | $65 | N |
| UC San Diego | November 30 | NA | $60 | N |
| Lehigh | March 1 | October 1 | $70 | Y |
| U Rochester | June 1 | October 1 | $30 | Y |
| UC Davis | November 30 | NA | $60 | N |
| UC Santa Barbara | November 30 | NA | $60 | N |
| Case Western Reserve | May 15 | October 15 | $0 | Y |
| Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | June 1 | November 1 | $70 | Y |
| UC Irvine | November 30 | NA | $60 | N |
| U Washington | February 15 | September 15 | $60 | N |
| UT Austin | March 1 | October 1 | $60 | N |
| U Wisconsin | February 1 | October 1 | $44 | N |
| Penn State | February 1 | October 15 | $50 | N |
| U Illinois | March 1 | October 15 | $50 | N |
| U Miami | March 1 | November 1 | $65 | Y |
| Yeshiva | February 1 | November 15 | $65 | N |
Sources: each colleges’ website, commonapp.org.
Updated November 5, 2010.
Some notes:
ALWAYS CHECK with the college’s website to make sure the data is correct. We made every effort to be accurate, but things change and we don’t automatically receive updates from the schools. There are also more details available at each colleges’ website.
The table assumes that you’re applying from the US, and that you’re applying to the college of arts and sciences at each school. Deadlines and application fees can vary depending on whether or not you’re applying internationally (students applying from abroad usually have to pay about $10 more for their application), and depending on what school at the university you’re applying to (other schools, like the business or engineering or nursing schools may have different deadlines). Again, check each colleges’ website for details.
DO NOT necessarily be discouraged from applying to a given school just because of the application fee. All of the schools above accept fee waiver requests. The main form of fee waiver is for financial hardship, and they exist to enable students who would normally not be able to pay the application fee to apply. Inquire at the college you’re interested in for more details.
Why these schools? They happen to be the Top 50 National Universities according to US News. We wanted a sampling of the most popular schools that students might be curious about. Keep in mind there are about 2,500 four-year colleges in the US