Senior year runs on a real sequence of dates, and mixing up their order costs more at this stage than missing information ever would. Our full senior-year timeline walks through the reasoning behind each stretch of the year; this piece is the fast-reference version -- one table, in order, so you can check where you actually stand without re-reading a narrative walkthrough.
The senior-year date table
| When | What happens | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| August 1 | Common App (and most other application platforms) opens for the new cycle | Create your account any time before this; your saved information rolls over automatically once it opens. |
| September | National Merit Semifinalists are announced | Based on the PSAT/NMSQT you sat in October of junior year, not anything you do senior year itself -- roughly 16,000 students are named nationally, using state-specific cutoffs. |
| October | Last SAT/ACT sitting that reliably reports in time for most EA/ED deadlines | See our verified SAT/ACT test-date table for the actual dates each cycle -- work backward from your earliest deadline, not forward from today. |
| October 1 | FAFSA opens (federal date) | The federal filing window itself runs for months afterward, but that's misleading on its own -- see the February note below for why. |
| November 1 or November 15 | Most common Early Action and Early Decision I deadlines | The single most common pair of dates on this whole table, but every school sets its own -- confirm each target school's actual date rather than assuming one of these two. |
| Mid-December | Early Action and Early Decision I results are released | A deferral is a real, distinct outcome from an outright admit or deny -- see what actually helps after a deferral. |
| January 1 or January 15 | Most common Regular Decision deadline, and also the most common Early Decision II deadline | Two different applicant pools land on similar dates -- confirm which one applies to you at each specific school, since ED II is still binding. |
| January-February | Priority deadlines for college-specific financial aid (and CSS Profile, where required) | This is the deadline that actually matters, not the federal FAFSA window -- many schools award aid first-come, first-served, so filing right at this window (not whenever before the federal cutoff) is what protects your aid eligibility. |
| Mid-February | Early Decision II results are released | |
| March | Regular Decision results are released for most schools | Some schools use late March or early April specifically; if you're waitlisted rather than admitted or denied, that's a different mechanism with its own strategy. |
| May 1 | National Candidates Reply Date -- the deadline to accept one offer and pay your deposit | Set by longstanding NACAC practice, not federal law. Commonly $200-$500, nonrefundable. A handful of schools push this later (CUNY has used June 1 in recent cycles) -- check before assuming May 1 applies everywhere. |
What this table doesn't cover
This is the admissions-cycle sequence specifically -- it isn't a substitute for the full senior-year timeline, which explains the reasoning behind each stretch (why October is your last realistic test date, what "first-come, first-served" aid actually means in practice, why a senior-year grade drop is a real risk even after you're admitted). It also isn't a testing calendar -- the verified SAT/ACT date table has the actual test dates and registration deadlines for the current cycle. Use this page to check where you stand in the sequence; use those two for the reasoning and the exact calendar.
What this means for you
- Work from your earliest real deadline, not from today's date. For most seniors that's an EA or ED I deadline in November, not the RD deadline in January -- confirm which applies to each school on your list individually.
- The federal FAFSA deadline is not the deadline that matters. College-specific priority aid deadlines land in January or February, months before the federal cutoff, and aid at many schools runs out on a first-come, first-served basis.
- A deferral, a waitlist, and an outright decision are three different outcomes, each with its own realistic next step -- don't treat "not yet admitted" as one undifferentiated category.
- Confirm every date on this table against your specific schools before treating it as fact. These are the most common dates, not universal ones -- ED II, RD, and deposit deadlines in particular vary by institution.
- May 1 is the real finish line for most students -- deposit somewhere you'd genuinely attend by that date even if you're still waiting on a waitlist elsewhere, and check whether any of your schools have pushed the date later.
Sources
- Preparing for College: Senior Year Checklist — National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC)
- Common App opens application to launch 2026-27 season — Common App
- National Merit Semifinalist Cutoffs — Compass Education Group
- ED Officially Launches 2026-27 FAFSA Ahead of October 1 Deadline — NASFAA
- CUNY Extends Deadline to Commit to College to June 1 — CUNY