Undergraduate Decision Plans
What is Early Decision?
Early Decision is a binding plan for first-year applicants, meaning that if an applicant receives an offer of admission, they must accept that offer. Applicants who choose this decision plan will apply by November 1 and should be sure that Virginia Tech is their top choice. While Early Decision applicants are eligible for financial aid and scholarships, applicants whose decision to attend Virginia Tech may depend on financial awards are encouraged to apply Early Action. Roughly 20% of our incoming class is filled through Early Decision, so the majority of applicants in the incoming class apply Early Action or Regular Decision.
What is Early Action?
Early Action is a non-binding decision plan for first-year applicants, meaning applicants can consider an offer from Virginia Tech among offers from other institutions. Early Action applicants will apply by December 1. It is the most common decision plan among first-year applicants. Since it is the most common decision plan, most offers of admission for the incoming first-year class will be extended to Early Action applicants. We encourage first-year applicants to select Early Action as their decision plan if they apply on or before December 1.
What is Regular Decision?
Regular Decision is the final plan for first-year applicants and is another non-binding option. The Regular Decision deadline is January 15. Since most offers of admission are extended to Early Action applicants, applicants who apply Regular Decision are considered on a space-available basis only. We encourage applicants who want to be as competitive as possible to choose Early Action if they have not missed the Early Action deadline of December 1.