I'm taking a break from discussing divisive partisan issues to discuss something that almost everybody should be happy about. This week, Harvard University, in a very bold move, announced that starting with the Freshman class entering in 2008, the school will no longer offer an early admissions program. Apart from helping to quell the ridiculous level of college hysteria, this move by Harvard should help aleviate some of the inequality plaguing the admissions process.
The problem with early decision is that it is a process specifically for those who don't have to worry about how they are going to pay for college. It gives an advantage to people who do not need financial aid. Once a school accepts you through early decision (Harvard's old policy and Yale's policy is non-binding early action, so they are exceptions), you are stuck with the financial aid package that they give you. For many people, this is not an option. Many people need to be able to weigh various financial aid offers from various schools in order to make a decision that works for them financially.
Though their previous early admissions policy was one of the few non-binding pacts in the country, and their new policy will not single-handedly destroy inequality in the admissions process, their decision to get rid of early admissions altoghether is courageous and a major step in the right direction.
All of this discussion of equality is to say nothing about the other advantage of the destruction of early admissions. It's one thing if somebody knows for sure, beyond a shadow of a doubt, what their dream school is. However, most people who apply to a school early only do so in order to be done with the whole process as soon as possible. This is more true the more prestigious the high school. Last year's graduating class at my alma mater, the private, $30,000+ a year Fieldston School, had something like three quarters of the class applying early. That's up from about two thirds in my class. I still have many friends in the more recent class, and more than once I heard the sentiment that somebody would rather be outright rejected by the school to which they applied early than deferred to the regular admission pool; they saw the deferment as a slap in the face. If one feels this way, he or she should not be applying early.
Harvard is a leader in the education field, and many others will soon follow. These quotes come from
today's New York Times:
"This will be a big topic of discussion on all these college campuses," said Richard L. Nesbitt, director of admission at Williams College. "It is something we will consider.
"For the moment, our plan would be to stick with early admissions but keep a close eye on how this might affect the admissions market," said Karl M. Furstenberg, dean of admissions at Dartmouth. "A lot of places are going to think about what this means for their own programs."
At Cornell, Carolyn Martin, the provost, said officials there had been discussing for quite a while their concerns that early admissions might deter some low-income students from applying and pressure other students to commit too quickly. "I don't know where we will end up," Dr. Martin said. "It's been fairly widely recognized, certainly at Cornell, that it does put students in a disadvantaged position."
So while nobody has followed Harvard's lead yet, it's a near certainty that many will. Harvard is killing early admissions in 2008 instead of '07 in order to give others time to decide if they will be innovators along with Harvard.
In my opinion, it will be a fantastic change benefitting everybody that has come along just in time. I never thought I'd say this, but go Harvard!