THE EARLY APPLICATION CONTROVERSY

By Sally P. Springer, Ph.D.

Last September, Harvard University surprised a lot of people when it announced that it was going to make its admissions process “fairer” by eliminating its early admissions plan starting with the high school graduating class of 2008. The change was considered so newsworthy that it was covered on the front page of the New York Times. Within a week, Princeton University announced that it, too, was eliminating its early admissions program for similar reasons. A few days after that, the University of Virginia made the same kind of change. Each announcement received a lot of media attention.

What are all these early options anyway?

Although most students apply to college by January of their senior year and make choices from among their options once decisions are announced the following spring, more and more students have been taking advantage of early acceptance programs. Early acceptance options require you to apply to a college early in the school year, typically by November 1 or November 15, in exchange for an early response from that college, usually by December 15.

The programs offered by different colleges vary in important ways. Some, known as early decision, commit you to attending if you are admitted. You can apply early decision to only one college since acceptance is binding if the financial aid package offered is adequate. Another kind, early action, allows you to get the college’s decision early, but lets you have until May 1 to make your final decision. Most early action programs permit you to apply early action to other colleges as well and even submit one early decision application. A third type, single choice early action, does not commit you to attending if accepted, but it does restrict you from applying early action or early decision to any other college. If you feel you need a scorecard to keep all of this straight, you are not alone!

About 500 colleges, including virtually all of those that would be considered fairly or very selective, offer at least one of these early options. (Yet another admissions option is rolling admissions, in which a college reviews and decides on applications as they come in until the class is full – an acceptance is not binding on the student and these are not considered “early” programs.) Although early acceptance programs, and early decision in particular, have been around for decades at many schools, only somewhat recently have they become the subject of a great deal of discussion and controversy.

The Pros and Cons of Early Applications

On the surface, the rationale for early admission programs is simple. If a student has a clear first-choice college, the student can express that preference by applying early and committing to attend if admitted. In exchange, an acceptance will allow him or her to bypass much of the drawn-out anxiety lasting into spring that can accompany regular decision applications. If the college’s answer is “no” (a denial) or "we are not sure" (a deferral of the decision until the regular application cycle), the student can still apply to other colleges in time to meet the regular cycle deadline.

The advantage of early decision for a college is that the college knows that each student who is accepted early decision will indeed enroll in the fall; there is no guesswork. Even early action eliminates guesswork for a college—most have learned that a student admitted early action, even though the decision isn’t binding, is more likely to attend that college than a student admitted during the regular decision cycle. The early application process appears to be an efficient way to match students who want a given college with a college that wants them, and it looks like everyone wins. But the answer is not that simple.

Critics of early decision (and to some extent, early action) point out that it has become something that it was never intended to be—an admissions strategy that increases the chances of being accepted to a selective institution. Some colleges have admissions rates two or three times higher for early applicants compared with regular decision applicants, and fill from one-third to one-half of their freshman classes from the early pool. As a result, the much larger pool of regular decision applicants ends up competing for fewer slots well after the much smaller group of early applicants has secured a place.

Critics note that early decision programs favor students who do not need financial aid (since the student can’t compare packages from different schools and possibly get even more aid). They also point out that both early action and early decision programs favor students who have a support system to help them identify and apply to a top choice college by early November, and they also say early acceptance programs increase the pressure on students to identify their choice before they are really ready.

Harvard, Princeton and the University of Virginia eliminated their early admission programs because they believed early programs disadvantaged students who were already disadvantaged and increased the college admissions frenzy for all students. Those who favor keeping early admissions as an option, however, argue that colleges concerned about equity should devote more time and money (for financial aid) to ensuring that potential applicants from modest or disadvantaged backgrounds have a chance to apply early if they wish. Early admission programs actually reduce anxiety for students, they say, and if colleges decreased the percentage of the incoming class admitted early, there would be no disadvantage for anyone regardless of when they apply.

Should You Apply Early?

It is clear that this debate will not end soon. It is unlikely that many more colleges will follow the lead of Harvard, Princeton and Virginia at this time. Most colleges will watch from the sidelines to see how the change works out at those schools. So for now, you can still apply early to the many schools that offer that option. Should you?

Early admission programs can work to your advantage if you

1. Have a clear first-choice college that emerges after careful research,

2. Don’t need grades from first-semester senior year to bolster your academic record,

3. Have the support from your parents and counselor needed to submit a strong early application and

4. If applying early decision, you are not concerned about comparing financial aid offers.

If all of these conditions are met, it may be worthwhile to seriously consider an early application. If you would be a competitive applicant, there may be advantages if you apply early and are admitted, but don’t be pressured into applying early. Three of the most well-known colleges in America have decided that, on balance, an early acceptance program is not right for them. Carefully consider your own situation before deciding if an early acceptance program is right for you.

Sally P. Springer, Ph.D., is associate chancellor at UC-Davis and is the co-author, with Marion Franck, of Admission Matters: What Students and Parents Need to Know About Getting Into College, Jossey Bass 2005. A sample chapter can be found at www.admissionmatters.com.