<p>Interesting trend-watching article in yesterday's WS Journal: "Colleges Expand Early Admissions" focus is on those colleges that now actively promote early decision programs - many offer second round early decision, special fast-tracked applications and sometimes both. Many colleges have even added new terms, like "instant decision," to the expanding vocabulary of college admissions. The article highlights the University of Vermont and Tulane University which now feature "snap apps" -- unsolicited applications that include a promise of a faster-than-usual decision and a waived application fee. Also, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., has added yet another option to early decision and early action options - a streamlined process, dubbed "Candidate's Choice" aimed at students who have visited or expressed interest in the school. Rensselaer promises "fewer questions" on the application and an admissions decision within 28 days, faster than regular admissions, where rulings take about three months.</p>
<p>"Ignoring Harvard and Princeton, Many Schools Add Ways for Students to Get a Quick Decision"</p>
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Unwilling to concede an edge in nabbing top students and unmoved by arguments that their policies are inequitable, many colleges have redoubled their commitment to early admission. In fact, many schools have come up with inventive new variations on early decision, whereby students get a quick answer and an advantage in the admissions process...</p>
<p>At Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa., high-school seniors have no less than five different options for applying, and four of them begin with the word "early."</p>
<p>"We get more and better students this way," says Dickinson's dean of admissions, Seth Allen. He notes that when Harvard and Princeton announced they were doing away with early admissions, he attempted to calculate how Dickinson would fare if it made a similar move. "If we were to do that, Dickinson would have admitted, boy, 70% more students than we did last year" to fill up the freshman class, says Mr. Allen. "I think we would have far less control in crafting the makeup of the class, in order to make sure it's diverse."...</p>
<p>"It's a double-edged sword," says Earl Retif, dean of admissions at Tulane. "You're trying to make it customer friendly, but then because it's easier, students can apply without as much thought. Do they actually want to come here, or are they just putting another stamp on another envelope?"
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