College applications are categorized by three major types of deadlines: Early Action & Early Decision, Regular Decision, and Rolling Decisions.

Most Early Action and Early decision applications are due between October 15th - November 1st. All Ivy League colleges (Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Brown, Dartmouth, University of Pennsylvania, and Cornell) have an Early application deadline of November 1st.

Nearly all Regular Decision college applications are due between January 1st and January 5th. However, there are a handful of colleges that have regular deadlines that extend later in January and February.

Many colleges, typically those less selective, offer a “Rolling Admissions” policy, which means that students may apply and be considered for admissions year round.

It is important to keep in mind that some colleges have deadlines outside of these windows.

For example, the University of California system (which includes UCLA and UC - Berkeley) have a November 30th deadline, followed by the University of Texas system colleges on December 1st.