<p>Scrapping Early Admissions Sparks Debate
By JUSTIN POPE (AP Education Writer)
From Associated Press
September 23, 2006 4:27 PM EDT
The recent decisions by Harvard and Princeton to drop early admissions have reignited a spirited debate: is ending the practice a recipe for making the college application process better, or worse?</p>
<p>Starting with the class entering in 2008, the Ivy League schools will cut programs common at many American universities that give high school seniors who apply in the fall a decision by mid-December - before most universities' regular admissions application deadlines.</p>
<p>Now, they will evaluate all students in the same pool, and notify everyone together in the spring.</p>
<p>The schools argued that early admissions informally discriminates against disadvantaged students and fuels anxiety.</p>
<p>Only a tiny sliver of college-bound students will be affected by Harvard's and Princeton's decisions, but the schools' prominence - and the prospect of other schools following suit - have sparked debate among educators and alumni about whether scrapping early admissions will improve the application process.</p>
<p>Most universities admit some students through early admissions, though the rules vary from school to school. Harvard, for instance, has used "early action," which gives high school seniors who apply in the fall a decision by mid-December, but still allows them to apply elsewhere in the spring. Princeton was among the schools using "early decision," in which fall applicants commit to attending if accepted.</p>
<p>Many support the changes, saying early admissions - particularly early decision - "structurally" discriminates against disadvantaged students. They say poorer families won't risk committing to one school without seeing what kind of financial aid they are offered elsewhere. And their guidance counselors may lack the expertise to properly advise them.</p>
<p>A study of applications to 14 elite colleges by Christopher Avery, a Harvard professor, found early pools do have a higher concentration of students who do not need financial aid (he also estimated early applicants got an admissions boost equal to about 100 SAT points). But so far, most schools have concluded the relatively low number of low-income applicants is not a problem that changing early admissions will solve.</p>
<p>The money worries may be misplaced at Harvard and Princeton, the world's wealthiest universities (by total endowment and endowment per student, respectively). Both meet full applicant need. But in practice, the schools say, less-wealthy applicants don't apply early. They are considered on the same merits in the regular round, but the schools say the differences between the pools are inherently troubling.</p>
<p>"If you really need a lot of financial aid, even if Princeton says you're going to get it, these parents in many cases are looking at a bill that's more than they earn," Princeton dean of admission Janet Rapelye said in an interview this week</p>
<p>More than half of Princeton students receive aid, and all of it through grants, as no student is required to borrow. But "for the vast majority of families who need aid, hearing that in September or October was not enough time for them to process that information in time to get their children into the pool," she said.</p>
<p>But others predict the decisions to scrap early admissions - particularly if other universities follow suit - will add to applicants' overall anxiety. They say applicants would lose a chance to get the process over with, and, uncertain where they stand, will end up applying to more schools.</p>
<p>"In terms of the frenzy part of it, what this is going to do is just shift it all to the end of the year," said Peter Neely, associated director of college counseling and director of studies at Thayer Academy in Braintree, Mass.</p>
<p>The University of Delaware also dropped early decision this year, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill went to early action in 2002. But many of Harvard and Princeton's immediate peers - including Yale, MIT, Stanford (early action) and the University of Pennsylvania (early decision) - have indicated they will keep current policies. Less selective universities are unlikely to follow because they use early decision to hit class size targets and identify which applicants most want to attend.</p>
<p>That's one reason the move has already faced some resistance from some at Princeton.</p>
<p>"Everyone I know who applied early did so because they love Princeton, and you wind up with a lot of students who come because they really love (the school) and want to make the most of it," said Brian Brown, a senior from Sunnyvale, Calif. and member of a new group that quickly sprung up the Web site Facebook.com called "Princetonians for the Preservation of Early Decision."</p>
<p>Early admissions critics argue that schools can identify eager applicants through application essays.</p>
<p>A number of high school counselors have applauded the universities' intentions but said much depends on how others respond. And they acknowledged any change will have winners and losers.</p>
<p>"There's no easy answer," said Marybeth Kravets, college counselor at Deerfield High School in suburban Chicago. "For the right kid and the right school, (early admission) is a blessing. And yet you want this to be a level playing field."</p>