» Admission Decisions Explained

Admit Decisions

Below is a breakdown of the three types of admit decisions to better help you understand the various ways you can find your way to Chapman University!

Admit

An Admit decision means you have been accepted to Chapman for the incoming fall semester.

Admitted students are welcome to any admitted student event (on-campus or virtual).
The deadline to accept or decline admission is:
- January 10 for Early Decision admits.
- May 1 for Early Action and Regular Decision admits.
To accept admission and secure your spot in the fall class, you must also submit a $400 nonrefundable enrollment deposit.
Admission will still be contingent upon continued academic success in your last year of school. We will require an official copy of your final transcript to be sent upon completion of your work.

Admit Provisional

If you are offered provisional admission, it means that you will have been accepted to Chapman like any other admitted student. All of the conditions above for an Admit decision would apply to you. However:

Upon starting at Chapman, provisional admits are limited to 15 semester hours of credit during their first semester. After completing this initial semester with a minimum of a 2.0 GPA, these credit restrictions are lifted.
In addition, we strongly encourage provisional admits to use Chapman's academic resources like the Tutorial & Learning Center and the Writing Center.

Admit to the Panther Spring Start Program

Select applicants to the fall will be admitted to the spring semester as part of our Panther Spring Start Program.

When Chapman doesn't have enough space in the first-year fall class for all qualified applicants, some students will be admitted for the following spring.
Panther Spring Start admits can also join the waitlist for the fall class.
Students in the Panther Spring Start Program can use the allotted time of the fall semester to take a gap semester or take coursework at a community college before starting at Chapman in the spring.

Other Admission Decisions

In addition to being admitted, these are the other admission decisions you might receive.

Moved to Regular Decision

When Early Action and Early Decision notifications are released in December, select applicants will have their applications moved to the Regular Decision pool.

Students are moved to the Regular Decision pool because their file remains incomplete and/or the admission committee needs more information to make a final admission decision.
If your application has been moved to Regular Decision, you will have the option to have your application reviewed for Regular Decision or withdrawn from consideration.
If you accept having your application reviewed for Regular Decision, you receive your final admission decision when Regular Decisions are released in March.
Those rolled to Regular Decision will be given full consideration for admittance to Chapman. This decision should not be considered a discouraging sign for your admission chances.

Waitlist

Chapman offers applicants a place on the waitlist when the university does not have enough space to accommodate all of the qualified students who have applied for the fall semester.

If you were offered a spot on the waitlist, you can accept it by completing the Waitlist Reply Form on your Application Status Page.
The chances of getting admitted from the waitlist vary year-to-year and depend on the size of the program and the applicant pool.

Deny

Due to the number of our applications and limited space, we may not be able to offer you admission to our fall or spring class. However, for those who have been denied, the door to Chapman University doesn’t have to stay closed.

We encourage those still interested in attending to apply as transfer students after completing one-to-two academic years of full-time study at another regionally accredited institution.
You can get in touch with our Transfer Team at transfers@chapman.edu to discuss courses that are transferable to Chapman and explore opportunities for transferring to Chapman at a later date.

Questions about your admission decision?

If you have questions about your admission decision, you should reach out to your admission counselor. You can find your admission counselor here or on your Application Status Page.

Chapman University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, disability, genetic information, medical condition, marital status, religion, military status, or veteran’s status in its admissions policies or administration of its educational programs, including scholarship and loan programs, under Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 and under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Questions, concerns, or complaints may be directed to Colleen Wood, Title IX Coordinator at titleix@chapman.edu, phone (714) 997-6721, Argyros Forum Room 101, or to the Director, US Department of Education, Washington, DC, 20201.

Note: any questions relating to the admission process should be sent to admit@chapman.edu