Yes, you can usually apply ED2 after an ED1 deferral or rejection. A denial ends your first school's binding agreement, and at schools like Tufts a deferral does too. But the rules for what happens next differ by school in ways that matter for a January decision: some schools won't consider their own deferred ED1 applicants in ED2, several let you convert an application you've already filed, and the ED2 deadlines below run from January 1 to January 15. Everything here comes from each school's own admissions and financial aid pages for the current cycle.
If you're reading this in mid-December with a result you didn't want, read what to do after a deferral or what to do after an early denial first. This article picks up at the next question: should a second binding application go somewhere else?
If you were deferred in ED1, are you still bound?
Check your school's own wording, but often you aren't. Tufts University says it plainly: if deferred, "your application is considered further with the Regular Decision applicant pool. You will not need to reapply and admission will no longer be binding."
That's what makes an ED2 application elsewhere possible after a deferral. The catch: ED2 is binding too. If your ED2 school admits you, you withdraw your other applications, including the one at the school that deferred you. Johns Hopkins also notes that "You can only apply Early Decision to one school at a time." So pick an ED2 school only if you'd rather go there than wait for your deferral school's spring decision.
Can the same school move you from ED1 to ED2?
Don't count on it. Wellesley College rules it out in writing: a deferred ED1 applicant is reviewed in Regular Decision, and "You cannot be considered for review in Early Decision II."
The practical upshot: an ED2 application after December is usually a move to a different school, not a second try at the same one. If your ED1 school also offers ED2, ask its admissions office directly rather than assuming.
Can you switch an application you already filed to ED2?
Often, yes. If you already filed Regular Decision somewhere that has since become your top choice, several schools let you convert that application instead of starting over:
| School | Who can switch to ED2 | Switch deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Johns Hopkins University | Regular Decision applicants | January 16, 11:59 p.m. EST |
| Villanova University | Deferred Early Action candidates and Regular Decision applicants | January 31 |
| Bates College | Regular Decision applicants (file the Early Decision agreement) | February 1, 11:59 p.m. ET |
| Lafayette College | Regular Decision applicants who applied by the January 15 deadline | February 1 |
| University of Richmond | Applicants who applied by December 1 | January 1 |
| University of Rochester | Regular Decision applicants with no active ED application elsewhere | Contact admissions |
| Hamilton College | Applicants whose ED II conversion date hasn't passed | Contact admissions |
Villanova's rule is the most useful one after a December deferral: it takes deferred Early Action candidates into ED2, so a deferred EA applicant can make Villanova a binding second-round choice until January 31. Rochester's condition matters too: you can't convert there while another school's ED application is still live.
What ED2 can decide that ED1 usually doesn't
At Johns Hopkins, an ED1 application can be admitted, deferred, or denied. ED2 is different: "We do not defer Early Decision II applications." Hopkins' ED2 outcomes are admitted, waitlisted, or denied, and Villanova lists the same three: "admit, deny or waitlist." Plan for a waitlist as a real ED2 outcome, not a deferral that keeps you in the running.
ED2 deadlines and decision dates, 2026-27 cycle
These are the schools whose current-cycle ED2 dates we've confirmed on their own pages. For the full list, see ED2 deadlines by school.
| School | ED2 deadline | ED2 decision |
|---|---|---|
| Vanderbilt University | January 1, 2027 | -- |
| Wake Forest University | January 1 | -- |
| Johns Hopkins University | January 2, 2027 | Mid-February |
| Fordham University | January 3, 2027 | -- |
| University of Chicago | January 4, 2027 | Mid-February |
| Tufts University | January 4, 2027 | -- |
| Washington University in St. Louis | January 4 | February 12 |
| Rice University | January 4 | Late January |
| Hamilton College | January 4, 2027 | -- |
| Wellesley College | January 5 | Mid-February |
| Grinnell College | January 5 | -- |
| Bucknell University | January 10, 2027 | Mid-February |
| Brandeis University | January 15 | -- |
| Lafayette College | January 15 | -- |
A dash means we couldn't confirm a current-cycle decision date on the school's own pages, not that the school has none. The earliest group (January 1 to 4) gives you roughly two to three weeks after mid-December ED1 results, holidays included. If your new first choice is on that list, start the supplement before your ED1 result arrives.
How to decide in the two weeks you have
- Only go ED2 somewhere you'd pick over waiting for your deferral school. An ED2 admit ends your other applications, including the deferral.
- Check whether your ED2 school takes deferred or RD applicants on its own terms. Villanova takes deferred EA candidates. Rochester requires that no other ED application be active. Wellesley won't take its own deferred ED1 applicants into ED2.
- Expect admit, waitlist, or deny, not a second deferral. At Johns Hopkins and Villanova, ED2 doesn't defer.
- Check the odds before you commit. ED2 schools by acceptance rate groups ED2 colleges from reach to target, and what colleges actually report about ED2 admit rates shows how much early decision helps at each one.
- Line up the aid deadline too. ED2 financial aid forms often run on their own clock. See CSS Profile deadlines by school, and remember the release from a binding offer is for real financial hardship only.
Sources
Every rule and date above comes from the school's own admissions or financial aid pages for the 2026-27 cycle (fall 2027 entry), checked in November 2026. Where a rule page shows no year, we tied it to the current cycle with the same school's dated financial aid or catalog page: Johns Hopkins' early decision and financial aid pages, Villanova's admission and financial assistance dates pages, Bates' application options page and 2026-2027 catalog, Lafayette's early decision page, Richmond's early decision and aid deadline pages, Rochester's admissions and financial aid pages, plus Tufts', Wellesley's and Hamilton's own pages and each listed school's deadline page. Dates can change. Confirm on the school's site before you submit. See our methodology for how College Intel sources school data.