The Cavalier Daily
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Early to decide, early into school

Let's take a little trip back in time -- to high school. And you thought you'd never have to think about it again. Well, for those of you who have gotten closure from the four years of torture only after hours of group therapy, this won't be too painful. Try to recollect senior year, when you were applying to college and could almost taste the freedom -- and cheap frat beer. At the time, though, the only taste on the back of your tongues was envelope glue from all the applications. The lucky ones minimized the trauma, however, by applying to the University under its early decision plan. In recent years, the early decision process has come under fire, and some schools have eliminated it completely under the assumption that such an action will help students in the end. They are, in fact, doing just the opposite.

The current debate about the viability of early decision peaked last year when Yale University President Richard Levin criticized the plan for forcing high school seniors to make a premature decision in choosing what college to attend. Since then, Beloit College in Wisconsin and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have discontinued early decision. Ooh, see the lemmings follow the lead of the Ivy League school -- too bad Levin didn't take his own advice to heart: Yale itself still has an early decision plan. Way to set the example.

The latest casualty in the movement to wean students from applying early comes from one of our fellow institutions in Virginia. In an Oct. 2 press release, Mary Washington College announced that its admissions office had decided to terminate its early decision application process, effective in the fall of 2003. According to the release, the school usually admits around 15 to 20 percent of its freshmen through early decision.

Much like President Levin of Yale stated, officials at Mary Washington made their decision in the hopes that eliminating early decision will give more students time to weigh their options. The pervasive idea is that the few months' -- in most cases about December to April -- difference in between when decisions are due will serve as time for a student to mature and make a more informed decision.

Although it's impossible to generalize about all high school seniors at once, this argument is fairly weak. Most serious students will have been researching colleges since at least junior year -- by the start of senior year, their minds are saturated with plenty of critical information. Students enter into the early decision plan knowing that once they sign the agreement, there's no turning back, and it's presumptuous of some college admissions officials to determine that students' eagerness to commit to a school is invalid. Rather, universities should thank their lucky stars that seniors are so sure about their decision that they will promise not to apply to other schools.

Opponents of early decision worry that seniors' laziness will lure them into the convenience of the plan. Well, isn't that the point of early decision, in a sense? In reality, early decision benefits the motivated student. A lot of advanced seniors, taking advantage of having most of their graduation requirements fulfilled, endeavor to tackle more enriching and challenging programs. Many take several Advanced Placement classes. Others participate in time-consuming internships. For these students, early decision makes applying to college quicker and much less stressful -- not to mention cheaper.

As an alternative to early decision, some schools offer its illegitimate sibling, early action. This watered-down spin on early admission is non-binding, and therefore, less effective. Early action should not be a practical substitute in the eyes of admissions offices looking for a substitute to early decision -- it hurts them in the end. Even though early action may be helpful to the commitment-phobic senior, it takes away any leverage schools have over students and gives them free reign to flirt with every attractive offer at the bar. Early decision is the only way for schools to know which students are ready to commit with full confidence.

As The Cavalier Daily reported last semester, 980 of the 5,228 students offered admission to the University applied under the early decision plan ("University extends offers of admission," April 2). That's about 18.7 percent -- a significant number but not a percentage snowballing out of control. University officials should be commended for keeping its early decision plan as schools around the nation receive criticism for it. Mary Washington may have joined the looming trend when it somewhat removed students' agency in determining the future of their education, but the University will set the better example in Virginia if it continues to have faith in the validity of its applicants' decisions. After all, the early bird does get the worm -- not to mention the tuition check.

(Becky Krystal is a Cavalier Daily associate editor. She can be reached at bkrystal@cavalierdaily.com.)

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