<p>An interesting article from USA Today:</p>
<p>The article starts this way:</p>
<p>
[quote]
Shortly after Harvard announced last month that it was ending its early-admission policy, admissions dean William Fitzsimmons got a thank-you e-mail from a woman with a story to tell.
She and her best friend had applied to the same school. The friend got in, she didn't. And that was the end of the friendship.
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</p>
<p>Can someone explain to me how the end of early action would help this situation? Would it be just that the friendship would have ended in April instead of December??</p>
<p>It goes on to discuss the other side of the story:
[quote]
And, there has been no stampede to drop early-admission deadlines. In fact, some admissions professionals suggest it may backfire.</p>
<p>Here's why: Students who might otherwise have applied early to one of those schools will apply to more colleges to hedge their bets. More colleges will then see an uptick in applications, which makes them appear more selective but also makes it harder to predict their yield. Then, to maintain high yields, colleges will rely more on wait lists — putting more students in limbo later in the season.
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<p>I see this as a real potential problem.</p>