After Harvard University decided to eliminate its early admission program earlier this month, Princeton University and the University of Virginia quickly followed suit, declaring an end to their own early admission programs within two weeks.
What remains to be seen is whether the trend will continue beyond the nations’ elite universities.
“I think it’s a really interesting case that one of the most selective universities in the country took this measure,” said Jennifer Fitzpatrick, director of college guidance at Sewickley Academy, a private school outside of Pittsburgh. “I think it is going to encourage other colleges to really rethink their policy, to do what is best for students.”
EARLY DECISION VS. EARLY ACTION
Harvard’s early admission program, which will end with the Class of 2011, is what’s known in higher education circles as early action, meaning students receive a decision on their application before most applicants, but are not bound to attend.
Princeton and Virginia, on the other hand, offer the more common early decision, in which accepted students are committed to attend.
Fitzpatrick said early decision programs benefit colleges because they allow schools to get an early idea of how many students have committed for a particular year.
“Early action doesn’t really have that kind of benefit,” she said. “For a college, early decision is very advantageous, early action a little less so.”
Many education specialists maintain that early admission also creates advantages for students by increasing their chances of being accepted.
Brandon Jones, national director of Kaplan’s ACT and SAT programs, said because Harvard admitted more than one-third of its incoming classes through early action, students who applied regular decision were competing for only two-thirds of the spots in their class.
“Before, those seats were essentially more available to students who applied early action,” he said. “The acceptance rate for early action was actually higher than for those who applied regular.”
Because early decision programs are binding, they require students to accept admission without considering financial aid packages, a practice that some believe favors wealthy students who don’t need to compare offers from multiple schools.
Jones said Harvard’s decision will level the playing field for future applicants.
“There are parents, students, families, who are less aware of the advantages of early application, and this puts them on equal footing,” he said.
Fitzpatrick agreed, noting that students who know about the benefits of early admission programs generally come from privileged backgrounds.
“I think Harvard is trying to send a pretty clear message,” Fitzpatrick said. “You know, ‘We want to be fair and equal in this process for all students.'”
EARLY ADMISSION AT BU
Boston University Director of Admissions Kelly Walter said BU’s early decision program differs from Harvard’s because BU only enrolls eight to 10 percent of an incoming class through early decision.
“Harvard, by its own admission, fills 38 percent of its class early, so I think trying to compare the two programs of the two institutions is unfair and unrealistic, really,” she said.
According to the Office of Enrollment Planning and Retention, 55 percent of students who applied under early decision for the Class of 2009 were accepted, about equal to the 57 percent accepted through regular decision.
Walter said the test scores of early decision and regular decision acceptees at BU are relatively similar, with the Class of 2010 early decision students scoring an average of four points lower on the SAT than their regular decision counterparts.
“The differences are fairly insignificant,” she said. “It is true, I think, in general, that at most colleges the whole purpose of early decision is that you’re willing to admit students who are willing to commit to you early. I mean, that’s the whole purpose of early decision.”
Walter said she discourages the early decision route for students who must consider financial aid offers when choosing a college. Fitzpatrick, the guidance director, agreed that a student must be free from financial aid worries to apply early decision.
“If a student is not 100 percent sure it’s the first-choice school, I do not encourage a student to apply early,” Fitzpatrick said. “I also don’t encourage a student to apply early if financial aid is going to be a factor in their college admissions process.”
College of Fine Arts sophomore Lauren Goodhue said she applied early decision because she wanted to study with a specific member of the CFA faculty and assumed she was going to receive some amount of financial aid from BU.
“It’s interesting because when I applied early decision … I thought I was going to get financial aid, and I didn’t,” she said. “I still came because it was binding. It wasn’t impossible to come here. It’s just hard.”
College of General Studies sophomore Jamie Acernese said he did not factor in the cost of BU when considering whether to apply early decision.
“I just really wanted to go here,” he said. “The main hurdle was getting in.”
Acernese said he decided to apply early decision after talking with his high school guidance counselor about the benefits of early admission.
“Pretty much all throughout high school, my counselors were telling me that pretty much across the board, the allure of early decision was that colleges were more lenient looking at your grades and credentials,” he said. “One of my really close friends and I had pretty much the same statistics all throughout high school. I applied early [to BU] and got in. He applied regular decision and was denied.”
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
Any time a school as prestigious as Harvard makes an important decision regarding policy, it will garner attention, Jones said.
“I think…that it is interesting to note how quickly Princeton’s decision came on the heels of Harvard’s decision,” he said. “I would say definitely stay tuned.”
Still, not every school intends to follow in Harvard’s footsteps.
Ann McDermott, director of admissions at the College of the Holy Cross, a small Catholic school located in Worcester, Mass., said her school has no plans to disband its early decision program.
For Holy Cross’s Class of 2010, 50 percent of early decision applicants were accepted, compared to 34 percent of regular decision applicants, McDermott said.
“We’re comfortable bringing in the percentage of students we do bring in [through] early decision,” McDermott said.
As for the future of BU’s early decision program? Walter said the Office of Admissions discusses all admission programs, including early decision, every year, and the dialogue will continue this year.
“We have not made any firm decision for what our plans are for the future, except I do think it’s important to keep in mind that Boston University’s early decision program cannot realistically be compared with Harvard or Princeton’s program,” she said. “For a handful of students … this seems to be a good decision, and in all likelihood a program we will continue.”