STAFF EDIT: Accepting the rejects

A recent trend in college admissions has many colleges and universities sending out more than acceptances and rejections to the mailboxes of eager high school seniors. Institutions will now send out letters that guarantee admission, but only if that student matriculates at another institution for a year or two and maintains a certain grade point average for that period of time. According to an April 11 article in The New York Times, institutions such as Cornell University, Middlebury College and the University of Maryland have been making use of this option for many years, but there is no official record of how many colleges practice this kind of specialized deferment. In fact, many universities refuse to disclose their policies when it comes to this eventual admission.

This admissions technique is harmful to several parties involved in the process. First, the college or university that takes those students who plan to leave after a year or two for another school are losing out on their investment in the academic merit of the student. Their class shrinks, and where they expected to receive four years of tuition and work from that student, they are now receiving two at best. Currently, there is no regulation of this practice that requires students to inform the institution at which they matriculate of their plans to leave after a period of time, and because of this, these colleges and universities can do nothing but cut their losses and send out more acceptances the following year.

The Times also reported that admissions officers suggested in interviews that deferred admission gives the institution an edge in rankings because the system is based in part on SAT scores and GPA, and the scores of students entering through deferred admission (scores which are presumably lower) are not included in the rankings. Moreover, deferred admission lowers a college’s acceptance rate, which makes it appear more selective and therefore superior. Toying with a student’s academic experience to maintain a school’s reputation should not be an acceptable practice among admissions officers.

On top of all of this, students matriculating at universities at which they do not plan to stay are also taking that spot away from other prospective students who may have really wanted to attend that university, not to mention that it ruins the freshman experience for a student who knows that he or she is going to leave. If a student is only staying at a college or university for one year, that student will be far less likely to socialize or get involved with campus activities. Deferred admission does nothing but hurt all the parties involved in the transaction and undermines the value of a university education.