Admissions news

1. Updates on early action applicants

2. Decision release timeline

With our early action deadline now passed, we're just a few weeks away from our first decision release:

• December 13: Early action (Ohio residents and applicants to the Stamps Eminence Scholarship Program)
• January 24: Early action (domestic non-residents and international applicants) 
• March 7: Regular decision (application deadline January 15 — includes anyone who was deferred from early action as well as anyone offered the waitlist) 

Each of our early action notification dates will include decisions of admit, deny, admit to a regional campus for Ohio residents, and defer from early action to regular decision.

Note for Honors and Scholars applicants: We'll begin sending invitations to join Honors or Scholars on December 20 — and invitations will continue to be sent every three to four weeks.

Note for Morrill Scholarship Program applicants: We'll begin sending decisions on January 5 — and decisions will be sent on a rolling basis every two weeks through the end of March.

Note for University Merit Scholarship notification: Notifications of university merit scholarships (Maximus, Provost, Trustees and National Buckeye) will now be mailed within two weeks of a student's admissions decision. Students should also be able to see if they’ve received a university merit scholarship in their Applicant Center by the end of December for those notified of admission in December, and by the end of January for those notified on January 24. Please note that only students who met the early action deadline and are admitted to the Columbus campus will be considered for these awards.

3. FAFSA and ScholarshipUniverse priority deadline: February 15

The FAFSA is slated to open in December. As soon as it's available, your students are encouraged to complete it to be considered for the most aid.

Additionally in December, students are encouraged to log into our scholarship-matching platform, ScholarshipUniverse, to create a profile and start matching with awards.

Our priority deadline for both is February 15, 2025.

4. Test-optional decision for 2026 applicants and beyond

The university continues to review research on students who have enrolled at Ohio State since the test-optional pilot was introduced. A decision regarding the future of the test-optional policy is planned to be announced by the end of January.

5. Access to Ohio State's school counselor portal

It's a good time to check your access to Ohio State’s school counselor portal to ensure you can view your students' admissions decisions after the upcoming notification dates. To request or renew access to the portal, please use this form.

Please note that the portal includes a file uploader for student transcripts and documents. Find the "Upload student documents" link in the portal's Student Reports tab.

(If you have documents that cannot be uploaded via the Common Application, file uploader or other standard source, please email us from a school address at ugdocs@osu.edu. CCP-related documents for Ohio school counselors can be emailed to ccpdocs@osu.edu.)

6. Free application to our regional campuses until December 1

We're committed to keeping Ohio State affordable for all Ohio students. Through December 1, students can enter this fee waiver code RCW2025 in their online application to one of our regional campuses in Lima, Mansfield, Marion, Newark and Wooster.

Note: This code is exclusively available for our regional campus applications and does not apply to the Columbus campus.

7. Buckeye Student Leadership Academy application open

We’re looking for the next cohort of students interested in Buckeye Student Leadership Academy! The deadline to apply is March 1, 2025.

Strong candidates should: 

• Be a junior in high school
• Be a first-generation, rural and/or underrepresented minority student
• Rank in the top 25 percent of their class
• Be enrolled in a competitive curriculum, which might include AP, IB or honors; foreign language; or advanced math courses
• Be actively involved in extracurricular and leadership activities 

8. Save the date for Democracy Camp

We're thrilled to invite your students to Democracy Camp on July 16, 2025! This exciting event, hosted by the John Glenn College of Public Affairs, will offer high school students a unique opportunity to delve into civic education, enhance their leadership skills and gain a deeper understanding of democratic processes.

The conference is open to rising high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors and is offered free of charge. The application to participate will open on February 1, 2025. Please contact Sydney Rubin at rubin.192@osu.edu with any questions. We hope you'll encourage your students to join us for this enriching experience!

9. Ohio school counselor visit program: March 20

10. New CCP director: Stephanie Elliott

Ohio State’s Academy Program is pleased to welcome a new CCP director, Stephanie Elliott! Stephanie has served as a key leader and advisor in the University Exploration program for 20 years and brings a wealth of knowledge and enthusiasm for serving our students.

Stephanie has joined Kelli Reavling-Cobb (assistant director) and looks forward to meeting counselors and students during the upcoming College Credit Plus Informational meetings held between now and February. For questions, please continue to email the Ohio State Academy at SAE-Academy@osu.edu.

A note from our assistant vice provost

Bonus updates from our academic colleges

• New major: Our College of Arts and Sciences recently launched a new interdisciplinary major in leadership! Learn more about the college's 80+ majors on their school counselor site.
• Increased focus on agricultural experiences during application review: We've recently initiated a plan to increase interest in agricultural-focused majors, many of which connect directly to STEM and foster a passion for science and technology. During the application review process, we've renewed our focus on experiences and leadership opportunities from FFA, 4-H and farming work for students applying to our College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CFAES).
• In-demand major alert! If your students are interested in nutrition, encourage them to check out our accredited registered dietician nutritionist (RDN) program, which offers an accelerated path to this in-demand career. As part of a 3- plus 2-year model, students earn a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition – Dietetics as well as a Master of Dietetics and Nutrition. This combined program meets all the dietetics education and supervised experiential learning requirements.