My daughter is a high achieving student and is looking at california colleges in 2 years. She has seen the frenzy and stress levels of her siblings senior year and she knows she would like to apply to a “just right” college early decision in order to avoid some of that craziness. USD on paper seems perfect for her. She is community service focused, a leader in her school, has good grades, etc. I’m surprised they don’t offer Early Decision - has anyone ever asked them if they plan to add it someday? Thanks!
They had it 10 years ago but eliminated early decision. There are no plans now to reinstate the program, but there will be a new Vice Provost for Enrollment starting this fall. This means that everything in this area will be viewed with a new pair of eyes, so check back in another year to see if there has been any mivement on this program.
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When my DD applied to USD in 2005 fall, they had rolling admissions or early action…I don’t remember which one. (We would not have allowed early decision…but maybe they had that too…I don’t know) She had her application submitted by mid October. She had her admissions decision by mid December with financial aid estimate.
They have moved to a deadline model. I don’t see them moving back to the old model. They already did that.
Has your daughter considered Santa Clara University? As a Jesuit college, giving back to the community is woven throughout the courses and college. There are many students who apply to both USD and SCU because the boxes they check off are very similar. Santa Clara has early decision. Santa Clara also has early action which is not a binding acceptance, I believe.
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Thanks! I hope they do - kids in our city are applying to 20+ colleges … it seems unsustainable for kids and admissions officers. ED reduces the load for everyone and lets university enroll kids who love them! I have been surprised to see they don’t offer it. But maybe the new provost will make a change. 
Thank you! I think she will ED Santa Clara if USD doesn’t offer it - but we still have a year so tbd. 
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LMU also offers both EA and ED…and is closer to USD geographically
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I actually respect schools that don’t offer ED, because it’s often an access issue/barrier fur non full pay students…especially at schools that don’t meet full need like USD.
At many schools the ED advantage is not what it appears to be at first blush, after accounting for hooked applicants, and/or those who fulfill some type of institutional priority.
Might I suggest finding colleges where there is Early Action also…or rolling admissions? With these, you also get an earlier admissions result, but it’s not a binding admission.
My first kid applied early admission or rolling to three schools, and had those results before Christmas. For that kid it was 3/7 schools.
Kid two applied to only three colleges initially and had all three admissions results before Christmas. Two were EA (one was USD which no longer offers that), and one was rolling admissions.
Applying early action gives that early result, but doesn’t lock the kid into onky that college.
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This is certainly true at some places. But…since OP is interested in Santa Clara…at Santa Clara, for example, the ED acceptance rate is 80 percent and the non-ED acceptance rate is 46%. Even taking into account hooked applicants it’s almost certainly a big advantage.
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I agree in theory, but with many kids applying to over 20 schools, It feels out of control and the end result is that kids end up at the school that accepts them not the school that they wanted. I know kids who have gone to Dartmouth who really wanted Georgetown and vice versa. (obviously, in those cases, they didn’t apply early decision. They applied to many schools instead.)
I think there is value when kids really love a school to both the school and the student.
Most good universities who offer ED will let the applicant out of the commitment if they don’t offer the amount of financial aid that was expected-
I personally know a few students who received more aid in the ED process than they expected, so I think schools are taking that into account?
I would love a system where the Common App asked students to rank their top five universities so that the student’s choice could matter a little more/ or if they capped applications at 10…
Yes, my first two kids did that. This student would prefer ED and she is starting her research early so she can feel confident in her first choice - it’s nice when schools offer both!
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Depends how you define ‘hooked’ applicants. I included students who meet institutional priorities in what I wrote above, and at SCU, which is need aware, full pay students are an institutional priority. I would love to know what proportion of ED students have any financial need. Of SCU’s full time undergrads, 69.5% have no financial need, and they only fill about 30% of its class in ED (both stats per 2024-25 CDS)
I understand parents feeling that college admissions are out of control. For Class of 2029, the average number of schools that students applied to via the common app was just over 6 per applicant (as of the March common app update.) So, not many students are applying to 20 schools. https://www.commonapp.org/files/DAR/deadline-updates/Common-App-Deadline-Updates-2025-03-13.pdf
Sure, but again at some schools with ED, notably those that don’t meet full need (like SCU), it often doesn’t make sense for a family with need to apply, especially if they ultimately want to compare financial aid offers. ED is an access issue, and many organizations concerned with higher ed access would prefer to see ED eliminated. My point was that I respect schools that don’t offer ED (especially those that don’t meet full need), like USD.