Amherst College is a small liberal arts school in (you guessed it) Amherst, MA; think the middle of Massachusetts. The town of Amherst is a true college town with Amherst College, UMass Amherst, and Hampshire College all calling it home. Amherst is arguably the most elite of any of the nearby schools, and Amherst students can take classes at UMass, Hampshire, Smith College, and Mount Holyoke College (all nearby). However, what pulls many to Amherst is the fully open curriculum. Yes, that means no core classes.

Less than 100 students transfer into Duke each year. Most come in as sophomores, after one year of college at a different institution. A handful enter as juniors, but Duke prioritizes sophomore transfers. To be considered a transfer by Duke, you have to have been enrolled in a college or university in the past four years, and will have at least one full year of transferrable credits under your belt by the time you would enroll at Duke. “Early college,” or taking college courses while in high school does not qualify you as a transfer — you must apply as a first year.

Barnard is both a top women’s college in the United States, and a top college regardless of gender or identity limitations. It’s also a great college to apply to for transfer. While the recent first-year acceptance rate has been a mere 9%, the transfer admissions acceptance rate is about 20%. Barnard accepts transfer applicants for Fall Term or Spring Term admission, and the respective due dates are March 1 and November 1. While far more students apply for Fall admission, there isn’t an advantage, historically, to applying for the Spring over the Fall, as they have been accepting the same percentage in each.

The University of Michigan, or UMich, is a large, public research university in Ann Arbor, MI. Michigan is a hard to get into school, with a first-year acceptance rate of around 18%, but out-of-state is much lower. However! If you’re interested in transferring, you picked a pretty transfer-friendly school. They have around a 40% transfer acceptance rate, but that doesn’t mean it’s the easiest school in the world to get into. Admission as a transfer is still highly competitive and requires you to have good grades and strong engagement with your current school’s culture.

Whenever we work with students, we strongly suggest they apply to an ED2 school if their ED/EA plans don’t go their way AND they have a school they love that has ED2. If you are looking for a great small school that offers ED2, Claremont McKenna is an excellent choice! Claremont McKenna College is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It is one of five small schools in the Claremont Colleges consortium. CMC is an elite small school, and if you are serious about going there, applying ED2 might help you get accepted.

In the words of Wake Forest, applying Early Decision II is “the opportunity to show your interest in and commitment to us.” They care a lot about how much you care about them. That said, Wake Forest says that Early Decision applicants aren’t given preference in admissions. Statistically, though, that isn’t really the case.

Now that ED and EA decisions are coming out, many students are looking for schools that offer a second ED round, known as ED2. If you’re looking for a great small school that offers this round, Middlebury College is a perfect choice.

Wellesley is a private liberal arts school in Wellesley, Massachusetts known for their liberal arts curriculum. They’ve got a 30% ED acceptance rate, and a 14% overall acceptance rate, and about 1/3rd of their incoming class comes from the ED/ED2 pool, which means if you’re looking for a solid ED2 option, Wellesley might be your gal.

Many great schools offer a second opportunity to apply ‘early decision,’ and Pomona is one of them. Pomona College is one of five private liberal arts colleges in Claremont, California, aka the Claremont Colleges. If you are looking for an elite small college as your ED2 choice, Pomona is a great one.