As of October 2026: For fall 2027 entry, the senior to-do list has four dated parts: the last early-plan test dates (ACT September 19, 2026 and SAT October 3, 2026), early deadlines clustered on November 1, 2026, the UC and CSU filing window of October 1 to November 30, 2026, and the 2027-28 FAFSA, which opened September 23, 2026 and closes June 30, 2028. Regular Decision dates for most private colleges on our list land between January 1 and January 15, 2027.
Every date a senior family needs this fall and winter, pulled from the colleges' own deadline pages, the SAT and ACT schedules, and studentaid.gov.
By Nick Standlea, Test Prep Gurus. Figures may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.
12th Grade To-Do List: SAT, ACT & College Deadlines Explained -- Nick Standlea, Test Prep Gurus (YouTube).
November 1, 2026 is the single busiest day on the senior calendar Across the colleges we tracked for fall 2027 entry, November 1, 2026 is an early deadline at Michigan, Ohio State, Illinois, Maryland, Wisconsin, Indiana, Tennessee, USC, NYU, Cornell, Penn, Northwestern and Brown. Harvard, Stanford and Yale all use November 1, 2026 for restrictive or single-choice early action. Penn State and Arizona also list November 1, 2026, though both run more like rolling or priority reviews. One day carries a huge share of the fall workload, which is why registering for a test and drafting an essay in October matters so much.
The last useful test dates for early plans are September 19 and October 3, 2026 Nick says it plainly in his talk: the September ACT and the October SAT are the last chances for students applying early action or early decision. The ACT national date was September 19, 2026 and the SAT national date was October 3, 2026. The November 7, 2026 SAT and the December 12, 2026 ACT still arrive in time for most regular deadlines, which fall from December 1, 2026 through February 1, 2027 on our list.
The 2027-28 FAFSA has been open since September 23, 2026 The Department of Education announced the 2027-28 FAFSA live to the general public on September 23, 2026, ahead of the October 1, 2026 date the FAFSA Deadline Act requires. The federal deadline to submit is June 30, 2028 at 11:59 p.m. Central time, and the form uses 2025 tax-year income. State deadlines come much sooner: Texas asks for January 15, 2027 and California asks for March 2, 2027.
Fall 2027 application deadlines at 50 widely applied-to colleges
These are the dates each college publishes for fall 2027 entry. Blank cells mean the college does not use that plan, or the date did not appear on the page we checked. Dates are shown as the colleges state them.
| College | Early Decision I | Early Decision II | Early Action | Restrictive EA | Regular | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of California-Los Angeles | -- | -- | -- | -- | 2026-11-30 | -- |
| University of California-San Diego | -- | -- | -- | -- | 2026-11-30 | -- |
| University of California-Berkeley | -- | -- | -- | -- | 2026-11-30 | -- |
| University of California-Irvine | -- | -- | -- | -- | 2026-11-30 | -- |
| New York University | 2026-11-01 | 2027-01-01 | -- | -- | 2027-01-05 | -- |
| University of California-Santa Barbara | -- | -- | -- | -- | 2026-11-30 | -- |
| Northeastern University | 2026-11-01 | 2027-01-01 | 2026-11-01 | -- | 2027-01-01 | -- |
| University of California-Davis | -- | -- | -- | -- | 2026-11-30 | -- |
| University of Michigan-Ann Arbor | 2026-11-01 | -- | 2026-11-01 | -- | 2027-02-01 | -- |
| Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus | -- | -- | 2026-11-01 | -- | -- | 2026-12-01 |
| San Diego State University | -- | -- | -- | -- | 2026-11-30 | -- |
| University of Southern California | 2026-11-01 | -- | 2026-11-01 | -- | -- | 2026-12-01 |
| Boston University | 2026-11-02 | 2027-01-05 | -- | -- | 2027-01-05 | -- |
| California State University-Long Beach | -- | -- | -- | -- | 2026-11-30 | -- |
| Florida State University | 2026-10-15 | -- | 2026-10-15 | -- | 2026-12-01 | -- |
| Purdue University-Main Campus | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Ohio State University-Main Campus | -- | -- | 2026-11-01 | -- | 2027-01-15 | -- |
| University of California-Santa Cruz | -- | -- | -- | -- | 2026-11-30 | -- |
| Arizona State University Campus Immersion | -- | -- | -- | -- | 2027-02-01 | 2026-11-01 |
| University of California-Merced | -- | -- | -- | -- | 2026-11-30 | -- |
| University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | -- | -- | 2026-11-01 | -- | 2027-01-05 | -- |
| The University of Texas at Austin | -- | -- | 2026-10-15 | -- | 2026-12-01 | -- |
| Cornell University | 2026-11-01 | -- | -- | -- | 2027-01-02 | -- |
| University of Florida | -- | -- | 2026-11-01 | -- | 2027-01-15 | -- |
| University of South Florida | -- | -- | 2026-11-02 | -- | 2026-12-16 | -- |
| California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo | -- | -- | -- | -- | 2026-11-30 | -- |
| University of Wisconsin-Madison | -- | -- | 2026-11-01 | -- | 2027-01-15 | -- |
| University of California-Riverside | -- | -- | -- | -- | 2026-11-30 | -- |
| University of Washington-Seattle Campus | -- | -- | -- | -- | 2026-11-15 | -- |
| University of Central Florida | -- | -- | 2026-10-15 | -- | 2027-05-01 | -- |
| Clemson University | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| University of Pennsylvania | 2026-11-01 | -- | -- | -- | 2027-01-05 | -- |
| University of Maryland-College Park | -- | -- | 2026-11-01 | -- | 2027-01-20 | -- |
| Michigan State University | -- | -- | 2026-11-01 | -- | 2027-04-01 | 2027-02-01 |
| The University of Alabama | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 2026-12-04 |
| University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 2026-12-01 |
| University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | -- | -- | 2026-10-15 | -- | -- | -- |
| Columbia University in the City of New York | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Harvard University | -- | -- | -- | 2026-11-01 | 2027-01-01 | -- |
| University of Virginia-Main Campus | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| University of Arizona | -- | -- | 2026-11-01 | -- | -- | -- |
| University of Colorado Boulder | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Indiana University-Bloomington | -- | -- | 2026-11-01 | -- | 2027-02-01 | -- |
| Stanford University | -- | -- | -- | 2026-11-01 | 2027-01-05 | -- |
| Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus | -- | -- | 2026-10-15 | -- | 2027-01-06 | -- |
| Yale University | -- | -- | -- | 2026-11-01 | 2027-01-02 | -- |
| Northwestern University | 2026-11-01 | -- | -- | -- | 2027-01-04 | -- |
| Brown University | 2026-11-01 | -- | -- | -- | 2027-01-05 | -- |
| Texas A & M University-College Station | -- | -- | -- | -- | 2026-12-01 | -- |
| The University of Tennessee-Knoxville | -- | -- | 2026-11-01 | -- | 2027-01-05 | -- |
Fall 2027 entry deadlines as each college publishes them. Clemson, Columbia, UVA, CU Boulder and Pitt's regular dates did not appear in the pages checked and are left blank.
2027-28 FAFSA state deadlines for ten large states
The federal FAFSA deadline is the same everywhere, but states set their own earlier dates for state grants. These ten rows come from the federal deadline page.
| State | 2027-28 state deadline | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Arizona | April 1, 2027 | Arizona Promise Program, priority consideration. |
| California | March 2, 2027 (date postmarked) | Cal Grant GPA verification also due March 2, 2027; community college Cal Grant by Sept. 2, 2027. |
| Colorado | Contact Your Financial Aid Office | No state-level deadline listed. |
| Florida | May 15, 2027 (date processed) | -- |
| Georgia | ASAP After Oct. 1, 2026 | Visit GAfutures.org; additional forms may be required. |
| Nevada | ASAP after Oct. 1, 2026 (Silver State Opportunity Grant); April 1, 2027 (Nevada Promise Scholarship) | Both award until funds run out. |
| New York | June 30, 2028, midnight Central time | May need to complete and submit additional forms. |
| Oregon | ASAP after Oct. 1, 2026 (Oregon Opportunity Grant); March 1, 2027 (OSAC Private Scholarships) | Oregon Promise Grant/other state grants: contact Oregon's Office of Student Access and Completion. |
| Texas | Jan. 15, 2027 | Priority consideration; private and two-year institutions may differ. |
| Washington | ASAP After Oct. 1, 2026 | -- |
The deadline for any other state is posted on studentaid.gov.
National scholarship deadlines for the class of 2027
These are the 13 national programs we checked for students who graduate in spring 2027. Blank dates mean the sponsor had not posted that cycle when we checked.
| Scholarship | Opens | Closes | Award | Awards per year | Renewable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation Scholarship | 2026-08-03 | 2026-09-30 | $20,000 scholarship | 150 | -- |
| Burger King Scholars | 2026-10-15 | 2026-12-15 | $1,000 - $60,000 | 4,400 | No |
| Elks Most Valuable Student | -- | 2026-11-12 | $1,000-$7,500 per year, four-year scholarships (up to $30,000 total for the top 20 finalists; $4,000 total for the other 480) | 500 | Yes |
| GE-Reagan Foundation Scholarship | 2025-10-13 | 2026-01-05 | up to $40,000; $10,000/year renewable for up to 3 additional years | -- | Yes |
| Foot Locker Scholar Athletes | -- | -- | $20,000 to 20 high school, college-bound seniors (per most recently cached cycle; current structure unconfirmed) | 20 | -- |
| Equitable Excellence Scholarship | -- | 2026-12-22 | $5,000 awards, renewable up to three years or until a bachelor's degree is earned | 100 | Yes |
| National Honor Society Scholarship | 2026-09-03 | 2026-11-20 | $2 million in scholarships to 600 students | 600 | -- |
| Regeneron Science Talent Search | 2026-06-01 | 2026-11-05 | $250,000 top prize; $3.1 million in awards distributed annually; 40 finalists | 40 | -- |
| Davidson Fellows Scholarship | Fall 2026 | 2026-02-18 | $100,000, $50,000 and $25,000 scholarships | -- | -- |
| National YoungArts Foundation | -- | 2026-10-06 | cash prizes between $250 and $10,000 | -- | -- |
| Wendy's High School Heisman | -- | -- | N/A -- program discontinued | -- | -- |
| National Merit Scholarship | -- | -- | 2,500 National Merit $2,500 Scholarships, about 700 corporate-sponsored and some 3,500 college-sponsored awards; about 6,700 scholarships worth approximately $24 million total | 6,700 | -- |
| College Board National Recognition Programs | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Wendy's High School Heisman was ended by the Heisman Trophy Trust in October 2024. The Foot Locker and College Board rows could not be confirmed from the sponsors' own pages.
The seven Common App essay prompts for 2026-27
The Common App kept all seven prompts the same for the 2026-27 season. Students pick one.
| # | Prompt |
|---|---|
| 1 | Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. |
| 2 | The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience? |
| 3 | Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome? |
| 4 | Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you? |
| 5 | Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others. |
| 6 | Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more? |
| 7 | Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design. |
The Common App says it kept the essay prompts unchanged for 2026-27, citing positive feedback from students, counselors, teachers and colleges.
Our published results at Test Prep Gurus
These are the averages for students who finished our program. We print them exactly as they appear on our results page.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| ACT students starting at 27 or below: average gain | 5.7 points |
| SAT students starting at 1350 or below: average gain | 190 points |
| SAT students starting at 1350 or below who gain 200 points or more | 63% |
| ACT cohort | 491 students, 2017-2023 |
| SAT cohort | 291 students, 2024 |
| Total students in the published results | 782 |
| Founded | 2009 |
Completing the program means 12 or more instruction hours and at least 80 percent homework completion.
What are the first five things a senior should do this month?
Nick's list in his senior-year talk has five items: register for a test right away, pick the SAT or the ACT, prep with high-yield practice, send scores in a smart way, and go after scholarships. Each one has a date attached, and the dates are the part families miss.
Registration comes first because seats at nearby test centers fill. Nick says to register early so your student tests close to home. The fall ACT ran on September 19, 2026 and again on October 17, 2026. The next SAT date is November 7, 2026, with a regular registration deadline of October 23, 2026. The next ACT date after October is December 12, 2026, with a regular deadline of November 6, 2026.
Picking a test is the second step. Both tests are accepted everywhere, so the choice is about your student's strengths, not about college rules. Nick suggests taking a practice test of each, or using the PSAT score as a guide and then sitting a practice ACT to compare.
The third step is prep that focuses on mistakes, targeted drills, and full timed tests. The fourth is score sending, where score choice and superscoring both matter. The fifth is scholarships, since many colleges and private sponsors tie money to scores.
Put the five steps on a single sheet with dates. A senior fall goes smoothest when the family can see the whole month at once.
Is senior year too late for the SAT or ACT to matter?
No. Nick's short answer in his 12th grade talk is that senior year is when scores can still play a decisive role in admissions and scholarships. He says many families hear the phrase test optional and assume scores no longer count.
His view is that the reality is different. At most private colleges and out-of-state public universities, he says, students who submit strong scores are admitted at higher rates than students who do not. He also says scores can open thousands of dollars in merit aid.
There is a clear exception, and Nick names it. The UCs and the Cal States do not use test scores in admissions. If your student is applying only inside California's two public systems, testing is not part of the admission read.
That exception is smaller than it looks for most families. Our deadline table lists nine UC campuses and three CSU campuses out of fifty colleges. The other thirty-eight are private colleges and public flagships outside California, and that is where Nick says scores still carry weight.
So the honest answer is that it depends on the list. Build the college list first, then decide how hard to push on testing. If the list has even a few private colleges or out-of-state publics, a fall test date is still in play.
Which fall test dates still count for early action and early decision?
The September 19, 2026 ACT and the October 3, 2026 SAT were the last test dates for students applying early action or early decision. Nick repeats that point twice in his talk, because the early deadlines hit in November.
Look at the deadline table and the reason is clear. November 1, 2026 is the early date at USC, NYU, Cornell, Penn, Northwestern, Brown, Michigan, Ohio State, Illinois, Maryland, Wisconsin, Indiana and Tennessee. Harvard, Stanford and Yale use November 1, 2026 for their restrictive early plans.
A few early dates land even sooner. UT Austin, Florida State, Georgia Tech, UNC Chapel Hill and UCF all use October 15, 2026. Boston University's Early Decision I is November 2, 2026, and so is South Florida's Early Action.
The November 7, 2026 SAT falls after a November 1 close, so it cannot serve an early file. That is plain calendar math, not a policy choice. The College Board does not publish a set number of days between a test and its score release, so we do not print one here.
For families who missed the fall early window, the move is to aim the next test at regular deadlines instead. That is a normal path, and it keeps a strong score in play for most of the list.
Do the November and December test dates still work for regular deadlines?
Yes, for the large majority of colleges on our list. Nick says the November and December test dates will still arrive in time for regular decision deadlines at the vast majority of colleges. The SAT dates are November 7, 2026 and December 5, 2026; the ACT date is December 12, 2026.
Compare those to the regular deadlines in the table. NYU, Penn, Stanford, Brown and Illinois all close January 5, 2027. Yale and Cornell close January 2, 2027. Harvard and Northeastern close January 1, 2027, Northwestern January 4, 2027, Georgia Tech January 6, 2027.
Later dates give even more room. Ohio State, Wisconsin and Florida close January 15, 2027. Maryland closes January 20, 2027. Michigan, Indiana and ASU close February 1, 2027, and Michigan State's regular date is April 1, 2027.
The tight spots are the December deadlines. UT Austin, Florida State and Texas A&M all close December 1, 2026, and South Florida closes December 16, 2026. A December 12, 2026 ACT score will not help a file that closed on December 1.
So the test date your student picks should be chosen against the earliest regular deadline on the list, not the latest one.
When do the UC and Cal State applications open and close?
Both California public systems use a filing period of October 1 to November 30, 2026 for fall 2027, and both open the application on August 1, 2026. There are no early action or early decision plans in either system.
UCLA, Berkeley, San Diego, Irvine, Davis, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Riverside and Merced all show the same November 30, 2026 close in our table. San Diego State, Cal State Long Beach and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo share the same date through the CSU system.
That single date does a lot of work in a California family's fall. November 30, 2026 sits four weeks after the November 1 crowd of early deadlines, so a student with both kinds of colleges on the list has two hard pushes in a row.
One practical note: a UC application covers all nine undergraduate campuses in one filing period, so the work is front-loaded into the personal insight questions rather than spread across separate forms.
Remember the testing exception here. Scores are not used for admission at the UCs or the Cal States, so a student applying only to California publics can put test prep energy into the application itself.
What is superscoring, and does sending more scores help or hurt?
Superscoring means a college takes the highest section scores across several test dates and combines them into one score. Nick says most colleges practice superscoring, and that retaking the test almost always works in a student's favor.
Score choice is the other half. Nick points out that with the SAT and the ACT, you do not have to send every score from every test your student has taken. You can pick the single test date with the best results and send only that one.
Together those two policies lower the cost of a retake. A weaker day does not have to travel with the application. A stronger section from one date can still count toward the number a college reads.
Nick adds a caution we agree with. Colleges do not always spell out exactly how they superscore on their websites. So the plan should be to take a second test when there is time, then decide what to send once the scores are back.
Our published results are averages for students who finish our program. Across 491 ACT students from 2017 to 2023 who started at 27 or below, the average gain was 5.7 points. Across 291 SAT students in 2024 who started at 1350 or below, the average gain was 190 points, and 63% gained 200 points or more.
When did the Common App open, and did the essay prompts change?
The Common App opened the 2026-27 season on August 1, 2026, and the seven essay prompts did not change. The Common App said it was keeping the prompts the same, citing positive feedback from students, counselors, teachers and colleges.
The launch came with more than 1,200 member colleges and universities worldwide, including 64 new members and 23 Illinois community colleges. That size is why one well-built application file can serve a long list.
Two details save seniors real time. Account rollover keeps a student's answers in My Common Application, including the personal essay, when the new season opens. So a draft written in the summer is still there in October.
Prompt seven, topic of your choice, was the most popular pick in 2025-26 at 28%, followed by facing adversity at 23%. Popularity is not a reason to choose or avoid a prompt. The prompt only has to fit the story your student already has.
We could not confirm the personal essay word limit from the Common App's own site in this research pass, so we do not print a number here. The limit is shown inside the application itself when a student starts the essay.
When did the 2027-28 FAFSA open, and when is it due?
The 2027-28 FAFSA went live to the general public on September 23, 2026, ahead of the October 1, 2026 date the FAFSA Deadline Act requires. The federal submission deadline is June 30, 2028 at 11:59 p.m. Central time, and corrections close September 12, 2028.
The form uses 2025 tax-year income, which means the money picture is already set. Filing is free. Both the student and each contributing parent need separate accounts, since a parent cannot use a student's login to finish their part.
The federal deadline is late, but state deadlines come far earlier. Texas asks for January 15, 2027 for priority consideration. California asks for March 2, 2027, with the Cal Grant GPA verification due the same day. Arizona and Nevada's Promise award use April 1, 2027, and Florida uses May 15, 2027.
Georgia, Oregon and Washington tell families to file as soon as possible after October 1, 2026. Colorado's row simply says to contact the financial aid office, and several other states do the same on the federal page.
One number families ask about is not posted yet. The maximum Pell Grant is $7,395 for the 2026-27 award year, and the 2027-28 amount has not been published. Filing early does not depend on knowing it.
Which national scholarships are still open for the class of 2027?
Of the 13 national programs we checked, the confirmed deadlines run from September 30, 2026 for Coca-Cola Scholars to December 22, 2026 for Equitable Excellence. Several are still open as of late October 2026.
The ones still ahead include Regeneron Science Talent Search, closing November 5, 2026, the Elks Most Valuable Student on November 12, 2026, the National Honor Society Scholarship on November 20, 2026, Burger King Scholars on December 15, 2026, and Equitable Excellence on December 22, 2026.
Award sizes vary a lot. Regeneron's top prize is $250,000 with 40 finalists. Coca-Cola awards $20,000 to 150 scholars. The NHS program awards $2 million to 600 students. Equitable Excellence gives $5,000 awards to 100 students, renewable up to three years.
Three programs on the list are not usable this cycle. Wendy's High School Heisman was ended by the Heisman Trophy Trust in October 2024. Foot Locker Scholar Athletes' portal still showed 2018 content when we checked. The College Board recognition page did not load for us at all.
Test scores matter in one program directly. National Merit entry runs through the PSAT/NMSQT taken junior year, and semifinalists must submit SAT or ACT scores to move to finalist. About 6,700 awards go out, totaling roughly $24 million.
What do the colleges with blank deadline cells mean for our list?
Five colleges in our table, Clemson, Pitt, UVA, Columbia and CU Boulder, show no deadline dates because their own pages did not yield one in this research pass. A blank cell means not reported, not that the college has no deadline.
Some blanks are about process, not retrieval. Penn State uses rolling admission and lists a November 1, 2026 early date plus a December 1, 2026 recommended date, with no single regular close. Alabama lists December 4, 2026 as a priority date. Arizona lists only its November 1, 2026 Early Action date and no fixed final close.
Pitt's December 1, 2026 date is a scholarship consideration deadline under rolling admission. Michigan State lists a February 1, 2027 priority date and a regular date of April 1, 2027 in our table.
Purdue's page loaded but the deadline table did not render, so its row is blank. UNC Chapel Hill shows only the October 15, 2026 Early Action date, with the regular date left blank.
The practical move is to treat any blank as a date you still need, and to find it on the college's own admissions page before the fall calendar fills up. Rolling and priority dates behave differently from a hard close, and both still reward applying early.
How should a family sequence October, November and December?
Work backward from three anchors: November 1, 2026 for early plans, November 30, 2026 for UC and CSU, and the January 1 to January 15, 2027 band where most regular deadlines sit. Everything else slots around those three.
October holds registration, the October 17, 2026 ACT, and essay drafting. The SAT regular registration deadline for the November 7, 2026 test was October 23, 2026. The ACT regular deadline for the December 12, 2026 test is November 6, 2026. The fall PSAT/NMSQT testing window ran October 1 to 30, 2026.
November holds submissions. Early files close November 1 or November 2, 2026. UC and CSU files close November 30, 2026. Washington closes November 15, 2026. Two scholarship deadlines, Elks on November 12, 2026 and NHS on November 20, 2026, fall in the same weeks.
December holds the second wave. UT Austin, Florida State and Texas A&M close December 1, 2026. Alabama's priority date is December 4, 2026. South Florida closes December 16, 2026. The December 5, 2026 SAT and December 12, 2026 ACT are the last fall scores.
January is for the rest of the regular files and for the FAFSA if your state has an early date. Texas families should have the FAFSA in by January 15, 2027.
What test dates are left after the fall, if a senior needs one more try?
After the December 12, 2026 ACT, the next national dates are the ACT on February 27, 2027 and the SAT on March 6, 2027. Then come the ACT on April 10, 2027, the SAT on May 1, 2027 and June 5, 2027, and the ACT on June 12, 2027.
Those spring dates arrive after almost every regular deadline on our table has closed. Only UCF's May 1, 2027 regular date and Michigan State's April 1, 2027 regular date sit that late.
Still, spring dates have real uses. Some colleges accept an updated score for merit aid review after an admission decision. A stronger score can also matter for a student who plans to transfer or who is weighing two offers.
Watch the registration deadlines, which close weeks ahead of each test. The February 27, 2027 ACT closes January 22, 2027. The March 6, 2027 SAT closes February 19, 2027. The April 10, 2027 ACT closes March 5, 2027.
For most seniors, though, the fall dates are the ones that count. We would rather see a student test in November or December than wait for spring and hope a college will reread the file.
The move: what should we do in the next two weeks?
Register for the next test date now, then book a free mock SAT and a free mock ACT so the test choice is based on real scores rather than a guess. Both mocks are free from us, and they take one morning each.
If your student is applying for regular deadlines, the December 5, 2026 SAT and the December 12, 2026 ACT are both live options. The ACT regular registration deadline for that date is November 6, 2026, so the window to sign up is short.
While the test is pending, finish the Common App file. The prompts have not changed for 2026-27, and account rollover kept any summer draft in place. One strong essay serves a list drawn from more than 1,200 member colleges.
File the FAFSA this month if you have not. It opened September 23, 2026, it is free, it uses 2025 tax-year income, and every contributing parent needs their own account.
We have been doing this since 2009, and 782 students appear in our published results. If you want help picking the test or building the fall calendar, call us at 949.229.5359 or start at https://www.prepgurus.com/take-the-next-step.
Questions parents ask
Is senior year too late for the SAT or ACT?
Nick's short answer in his 12th grade talk is that senior year is when scores can still play a decisive role in admissions and scholarships.
Which fall test dates work for early action and early decision?
The September 19, 2026 ACT and the October 3, 2026 SAT were the last test dates for students applying early action or early decision.
Do November and December test dates still count?
Nick says the November and December test dates will still arrive in time for regular decision deadlines at the vast majority of colleges.
When do the UC and Cal State applications close?
Both California public systems use a filing period of October 1 to November 30, 2026 for fall 2027, and both open the application on August 1, 2026.
What is superscoring?
Superscoring means a college takes the highest section scores across several test dates and combines them into one score.
Did the Common App essay prompts change for this year?
The Common App opened the 2026-27 season on August 1, 2026, and the seven essay prompts did not change.
When is the FAFSA due?
The federal submission deadline is June 30, 2028 at 11:59 p.m. Central time, and corrections close September 12, 2028.
Which national scholarships are still open this fall?
The ones still ahead include Regeneron Science Talent Search, closing November 5, 2026, the Elks Most Valuable Student on November 12, 2026, the National Honor Society Scholarship on November 20, 2026, Burger King Scholars on December 15, 2026, and Equitable Excellence on December 22, 2026.
Method and sources: The deadline table shows fall 2027 entry dates as each college publishes them on its own admissions page, checked in October 2026, for 50 widely applied-to colleges. Test dates come from the College Board's 2026-27 SAT weekend schedule and ACT's national test date schedule; FAFSA dates come from studentaid.gov and Department of Education announcements; scholarship rows come from each sponsor's own page. Five colleges (Clemson, Pitt, UVA, Columbia and CU Boulder) blocked access or did not show deadline dates, and those cells are left blank rather than filled in; Purdue's deadline table did not render, and UNC Chapel Hill's regular date did not appear. The Common App personal essay word limit could not be confirmed from a Common App page, the SAT score-release timing in days after a test is not established by the official source, and the 2027-28 maximum Pell Grant has not been posted, so none of those numbers appear here. Rows are listed in order of how often students apply to each college, and FAFSA rows cover ten large states; other state deadlines are posted on studentaid.gov.
- 12th Grade To-Do List: SAT, ACT & College Deadlines Explained
- Common App - 2026-27 season launch
- Common App blog: Announcing the 2026-2027 Common App essay prompts
- Common App essay prompts page
- UC Admissions - UCLA apply page (systemwide dates)
- UC Santa Barbara - Dates & Deadlines
- UC systemwide - Dates & Deadlines
- UC Santa Cruz - Dates & Deadlines
- UC Riverside - Admissions home
- Cal State LA - Fall 2027 Admission Deadlines
- CSU Long Beach - First-Time First-Year Application Process
- SDSU - First-Year Students
- UT Austin - Apply as a Freshman
- NYU - All Freshmen Applicants
- Northeastern - Admissions FAQ
- University of Michigan - Requirements & Deadlines
- Penn State - How to Apply
- USC Admission Blog - EA/ED Deadline FAQ
- Boston University - Important Deadlines
- Florida State - First-Year Apply
- Purdue - Admissions Deadlines
- Ohio State - Apply Step-by-Step (Columbus freshmen)
- ASU - First-Year Student
- UIUC - First-Year Dates & Deadlines
- Cornell - First-Year Applicants
- University of Florida - Freshman Deadlines
- USF - Freshman Dates & Deadlines
- UW-Madison - Apply as a Freshman
- UW Seattle - Apply
- UCF - Undergraduate Admissions
- Clemson - Admissions
- UPenn - First-Year Applicants
- University of Maryland - Application Deadlines
- Michigan State - First-Year Dates and Deadlines
- University of Alabama - Apply
- University of Pittsburgh - Admissions
- UNC Chapel Hill - Apply Deadlines
- Columbia Undergraduate Admissions
- Harvard College - Apply
- UVA - Office of Undergraduate Admission
- University of Arizona - Admissions Deadlines
- CU Boulder - First-Year Students
- Indiana University Bloomington - Admissions
- Stanford Undergraduate Admission
- Georgia Tech - First-Year Deadlines
- Yale Admissions - Apply
- Northwestern - Application Deadlines
- Brown Admission - How to Apply
- Texas A&M - Apply as a Freshman
- UT Knoxville - Important Dates and Deadlines
- ACT National Test Dates Schedule 2026-2027 | ACT
- Sat School Day Test Dates
- SAT Suite Assessments Calendar 2026-27
- Register for the ACT: Upcoming Dates, Fees & How to Sign Up
- Test Dates and Deadlines - SAT Suite - College Board
- The ACT - Register for the ACT
- SAT International Test Dates Flyer
- The ACT Test for Students
- SAT Registration - SAT Suite - College Board
- Scores | In-School Testing - SAT Suite of Assessments
- Registration for the ACT Test - Non US Students
- Sign In to Your Score Report
- studentaid.gov -- FAFSA Application Deadlines (2027-28 and 2026-27)
- studentaid.gov -- 2027-28 FAFSA Form PDF
- studentaid.gov -- Federal Pell Grants
- studentaid.gov -- Steps for Students: Filling Out the FAFSA Form
- studentaid.gov -- Creating and Using the FSA ID (PDF)
- fsapartners.ed.gov -- 2027-28 FAFSA Beta Testing Plan (Updated Sept. 23, 2026)
- financialaidtoolkit.ed.gov -- 2027-28 FAFSA Form Now Available
- congress.gov -- H.R.8932, FAFSA Deadline Act, Public Law 118-145 (text)
- Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation -- Apply
- Burger King Scholars (via Scholarship America)
- Elks Most Valuable Student Scholarship
- GE-Reagan Foundation Scholarship Program
- Foot Locker Scholar Athletes Program (BGCA portal)
- Equitable Excellence Scholarship (via Scholarship America)
- Equitable Excellence Scholarship (equitable.com)
- National Honor Society -- The NHS Scholarship
- Regeneron Science Talent Search
- Regeneron STS -- Application Requirements
- Davidson Fellows Scholarship
- Davidson Fellows -- How to Apply
- National YoungArts Foundation -- Apply
- Heisman High School Scholarship (official status page)
- National Merit Scholarship Corporation -- 2027 Semifinalists press release
- National Merit Scholarship Corporation (home)
- College Board -- National Recognition Programs
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