2008 Woodie Awards
Top Ivies Stop Early Admission
Courtney Roy
Issue date: 9/27/06 Section: News
- Page 1 of 2 next >
One week after Harvard University announced that they would no longer offer an early decision option for incoming freshman, Princeton University also announced that they would end their early decision program. These decisions have caused increased discussion amongst academics about the fairness of the admissions process.
Harvard and Princeton's recent decisions affect the high school class of 2008. Officials at both universities have argued that eliminating early decision creates a more equal opportunity. Early decision allows high school students to apply to a top choice school usually by early November to receive an answer from the university by December. For many universities, Harvard included, the acceptance rate for early decision applications is significantly higher than the regular decision pool. Early decision, however, is often a binding contract, which means that even if the accepted students do not receive any financial aid they must attend.
According to Derek Bok, the interim president of Harvard, "We think this will produce a fairer process, because the existing process has been shown to advantage those who are already advantaged."
Harvard's early decision process is not binding, which means that admitted students are not required to attend. Princeton's old policy did not allow students to go elsewhere if admitted through early decision.
Though Princeton's dean of admission Janet Lavin Rapelye would not predict how the university would react immediately after Harvard announced its decision she did comment that they were taking steps to broaden the applicant pool.
The decision was made by Princeton's president, Shirley M. Tilghman, Rapelye and Dean of the College Nancy Weiss Malkiel. This new policy comes after a series of annual reviews made by the university that has included an assessment of the impact of the early admissions program, which has been available to applicants for about 30 years. The early decision option at Princeton required admitted students to attend. This year roughly 49 percent of the incoming freshman class at Princeton was admitted through the early decision option.
Harvard and Princeton's recent decisions affect the high school class of 2008. Officials at both universities have argued that eliminating early decision creates a more equal opportunity. Early decision allows high school students to apply to a top choice school usually by early November to receive an answer from the university by December. For many universities, Harvard included, the acceptance rate for early decision applications is significantly higher than the regular decision pool. Early decision, however, is often a binding contract, which means that even if the accepted students do not receive any financial aid they must attend.
According to Derek Bok, the interim president of Harvard, "We think this will produce a fairer process, because the existing process has been shown to advantage those who are already advantaged."
Harvard's early decision process is not binding, which means that admitted students are not required to attend. Princeton's old policy did not allow students to go elsewhere if admitted through early decision.
Though Princeton's dean of admission Janet Lavin Rapelye would not predict how the university would react immediately after Harvard announced its decision she did comment that they were taking steps to broaden the applicant pool.
The decision was made by Princeton's president, Shirley M. Tilghman, Rapelye and Dean of the College Nancy Weiss Malkiel. This new policy comes after a series of annual reviews made by the university that has included an assessment of the impact of the early admissions program, which has been available to applicants for about 30 years. The early decision option at Princeton required admitted students to attend. This year roughly 49 percent of the incoming freshman class at Princeton was admitted through the early decision option.