According to UO spokesperson Eric Howald, the University of Oregon admitted 18,820 Class of 2029 students through the early action deadline over winter break. This number will increase after regular decision admittances.
UO’s early action deadline was on Nov. 1, 2024.
The deadline comes nearly three months sooner than the regular decision deadline of Jan. 15, 2025.
Most students who apply for early action received decision status by mid-December of 2024.
According to Howald, the university saw an increase from the 17,460 students who were admitted for fall 2024.
Howald also said that in 2021, 40% of applications were early action. In 2022, 42% were early action, and by 2023, the number of early action applications jumped to 50%.
According to Erin Hays, associate vice president for student services and enrollment management and director of admissions, there has been a 4% increase in early action applications since the 2023 to 2024 academic year.
“A lot of students apply earlier to schools because they just want more time to compare schools and get out to do campus visits,” Hays said.
Hays said due to Oregon’s smaller population, UO receives more applicants from out-of-state students as opposed to Oregon residents.
“We treat both groups equally in our admissions process, so we don’t distinguish between resident and non-resident in our offers of admission,” Hays said.
Hays also said the acceptance rate for both early action and regular decision were “very similar,” both being in the “high 80s” in terms of percentage.
Amber Clemons, a freshman who applied through the regular decision deadline for the fall of 2024, said she wished she had chosen early action for its benefits, including access to scholarships.
“Honestly I had a friend who did early action, and I felt like that reaped better benefits when it came to scholarships and everything. So that’s something that if I was able to go into the past that I would do,” Clemons said.
Grayson Mentzer, another freshman who chose the regular decision deadline, said he waited to commit to UO because he wanted to consider his other options.
“I wasn’t really sure if this was going to be my final choice for a college because I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to afford it, and there was just other colleges that looked promising, so when I chose (regular) decision, I just wanted to keep my options open,” Mentzer said.
Kennedy Thomas, a freshman who chose to apply for early action, said she felt early action gave her an advantage over other applicants.
“I thought it would put me a step ahead of a lot of other applicants and I thought it would make it easier for me to get into the school or get into the (Clark) Honors College, and just like have a better experience with applying to UO,” Thomas said.
