IT'S SPRINGTIME -- the time of year when longer days and warmer temperatures seem to entice dormant high-schoolers out of hibernation. As the number of prospectives swarming Grounds rises with the temperature, it forces many of us to reflect on what the process of choosing a college has become. One of the most disturbing trends in college admissions recently is the way the stressful college search process has been pushed earlier into a student's high school career, with more and more students opting to gamble away choice for increased odds at the most competitive schools.
The culprit for much of this is early decision programs. Students opting for early decision are offered earlier enrollment and often higher odds for admission in return for the promise that they will enroll if admitted. The number of students applying under such programs has more than doubled in the last decade.
Here at the University, the rate of acceptance for early decision is almost exactly the same as the rate for regular decision, if not a little lower. This is not the story everywhere, however. Many top liberal arts colleges accept nearly twice the percentage of early applicants as regular applicants. For 2003-2004, Princeton University accepted 24 percent of early decision applicants, but only 8 percent of regular applicants.
Of course, a higher acceptance rate doesn't necessarily translate into lower standards, but a study by Harvard's Kennedy School of Government in 2000 concluded that, on average, opting for early decision adds the advantage equivalent to 100 points on the SAT I score.
Many colleges with early decision programs justify them by claiming that they are aimed at students who are sure that a certain college is "right for them." But this implies that only one college can be a good match for someone, when in reality there could be dozens of good matches. Also, Harvard researchers report that over a third of students admit applying under a binding early admission program despite not being certain of their choice.
Early admission has become less about reducing stress for students who've supposedly found the mythical "right school." Rather, the option has become a strategic variable for well-off students seeking to maneuver themselves into spots at the nation's top schools. The whole process benefits affluent students at elite prep schools, where as many as 80 percent of students apply to a binding early decision programs, who are not constrained by financial need.
Indeed, the fact that students lose financial leverage is a huge problem with early decision programs. Most colleges with need-blind policies promise to meet demonstrated need for students accepted under early decision. But after a student has been accepted and rescinded his applications at other schools, as the early decision contract requires, the school holds all the cards: students can't negotiate offers or compare between schools. For this reason, many less affluent students self-select out of the early decision process, giving full-paying customers an admissions advantage.
The same is true of honors programs, which exist mostly to lure students who might otherwise go somewhere else. Why would a college waste a spot in its honors program by offering it to student who has already promised to enroll?
Also, the early decisions game creates pressure for everyone to push their college search into the junior year and earlier, a time when students are less mature and less prepared to decide. Instead of using the senior year to find the ideal college with a decision in May, students feel the need to decide in October, turning the rest of the year into dead time should they be accepted -- time that could better be spent fully evaluating all the options.
There are multiple reasons why a university would promote its early admission plan -- it gives colleges leverage in financial aid and means that they don't have to gamble as heavily on the percentage of accepted students who will chose to enroll. But it also means that the students are the ones gambling their financial and educational future instead when they should take all the possible time to carefully weigh one of the most important decisions of their lives.
Herb Ladley is a Cavalier Daily associate editor. He can be reached at hladley@cavalierdaily.com.
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