University of Dayton supplemental essays
No. University of Dayton asks for no supplemental essays in 2026-27. Common App. Personal statement optional (250-650 words).
That is at most one piece of writing in all: the Common App personal statement. Early Action closes November 1, 2026 and Regular Decision closes February 1, 2027. This page lists University of Dayton's application deadlines and what the application does ask you to write.
Deadlines
| Round | Date |
|---|---|
| Early Action | November 1, 2026 |
| Regular Decision | February 1, 2027 |
Checked against udayton.edu/apply. Confirm on the college’s own page before you submit.
Even the personal statement is optional here, but it is the only writing University of Dayton will see.
University of Dayton asks for no writing of its own and marks the Common App personal statement optional. Optional does not mean ignored: if you send one, it is read, and it is the only writing in your file. If the statement is already written for other schools on your list, submitting it here costs nothing and gives the reader something no transcript shows.
That cuts both ways. With no supplement, there is no second chance to show fit or interest in writing, so the one essay has to do all the character work on its own.
Early Action (November 1, 2026) is non-binding: an earlier answer with no commitment attached. Regular Decision closes February 1, 2027. Applying early means your essay is final about 13 weeks sooner; that is the revision time you trade for an earlier answer.
Paste your draft, see the verdict before you pay.
Your University of Dayton checklist
One piece of writing, and it is optional. The first deadline, Early Action, is November 1, 2026.
- Common App personal statementOptional250-650 words
It saves these rows to your essay manager, where each one carries a status you set yourself and the prompt stays attached to it. Add your other schools and they land on the same page, in deadline order. Nothing written yet? The topic quiz is free as well.
Free: this page, the checklist, the essay manager and the topic quiz. Paid: a written review of a finished draft, $49 an essay.
Paste your essay for a free read
Have it in a document? or drop one here (Word, PDF, or Text).
Not sure what a review is? What an AI college essay review can and cannot do, and what a college essay grader leaves out. What the read checks against University of Dayton’s own prompts is on the University of Dayton essay review page.
Getting into University of Dayton
University of Dayton admits 65.5% of applicants. The middle 50% of enrolled students scored 1200-1380 on the SAT and 25-31 on the ACT.
About 7 in 10 applicants are admitted, at a college of 7,682 undergraduates.
| Enrolled students | 25th | Median | 75th |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAT total | 1200 | 1290 | 1380 |
| SAT reading and writing | 600 | 640 | 690 |
| SAT math | 600 | 650 | 690 |
| ACT composite | 25 | 29 | 31 |
What SAT score do you need for University of Dayton?
A 1380 puts you in the top quarter of the students who enrolled, a 1290 at their midpoint, and a 1200 at the bottom quarter, meaning one in four enrolled students scored below it. The same three points on the ACT are 25, 29 and 31. A quarter of an enrolled class scoring under the 25th percentile is not a rounding error, so a score below the range is a reason to strengthen the rest of the application rather than a reason not to apply.
US Department of Education, College Scorecard (2026-09-17). Percentiles describe students who enrolled, not everyone admitted. SAT totals are the reading and math bands added together, which is how every source in this market reports them and is an approximation of about 10 to 20 points, because the two sections are correlated.
- What SAT score do you need for University of Dayton?
- University of Dayton sets no minimum. Among students who enrolled, the middle 50% scored 1200-1380 on the SAT: a 1200 sits at the 25th percentile, 1290 at the median and 1380 at the 75th. A score at or above 1380 is a clear strength in the application; below 1200 it is the part of the file the rest has to make up for. These are the figures University of Dayton reports to the US Department of Education, released in the College Scorecard of 2026-09-17.
- What ACT score do you need for University of Dayton?
- The middle 50% of enrolled students scored 25-31 on the ACT, with a composite of 29 at the median. There is no cutoff: a quarter of the enrolled class scored below 25. Reported by University of Dayton to the US Department of Education, College Scorecard release of 2026-09-17.
- What GPA do you need for University of Dayton?
- The honest answer is that the federal data behind this page does not contain one. Colleges report their admit rate and their enrolled students' test scores to the Department of Education; they do not report a GPA distribution, so any site quoting an exact average GPA for University of Dayton is either reading that college's own Common Data Set or estimating. What the reported data does say is that University of Dayton admits 65.5% of applicants, and the more selective a college is, the closer to the top of the class its admitted students sit and the more the strength of your course load counts alongside the number itself.
- How hard is it to get into University of Dayton?
- University of Dayton admits 65.5% of the people who apply, which is about 7 in 10 applicants. Numbers inside the reported range put you in a real position here, and the application itself decides the rest.
What University of Dayton costs after grant aid, by family income, from the same federal data.
Sort your whole college list into reaches, targets and likelies, or find colleges that fit your GPA and test scores. Both are free and neither needs an account.
University of Dayton essay questions, answered
- Does University of Dayton have supplemental essays?
- No. University of Dayton asks for no supplemental essays in 2026-27. The Common App personal statement is optional, and it is the only writing University of Dayton will read if you send one. It runs 250 to 650 words.
- How many essays do you write for University of Dayton in 2026-27?
- At most one, and it is optional: the Common App personal statement. There are no University of Dayton supplements in 2026-27.
Schools with similar admit rates
University of Dayton admits 65.5% of applicants. The colleges either side of it in our set by admit rate, most selective first, each with its own prompts and deadlines: University of Texas at Dallas (65.1%), University of Vermont (UVM) (65.3%), Chapman University (65.4%), Stonehill College (66.3%), Elon University (66.3%), Lipscomb University (67.7%).