Expert Admissions in the News

By Anjali Athavaley

The elimination of early admissions at Harvard
University and Princeton University -- effective this year -- is
helping to fuel a rise in applications at other elite schools that
offer nonbinding "early action" programs. The trend will make it more
difficult for top colleges to predict how many of the students they
admit will actually enroll, admissions officials say.

Yale University so far has received 4,820 applications
to its early-action program this year, up 36% from last year. The
University of Chicago has received 4,349 applications, up 42% from last
year. Georgetown University says it has received 5,925 applications, an
increase of 30% from last year.

The University of Notre Dame received 4,247
early-action applications this year, up 12% from last year. Boston
College says it is expecting about 7,000 early-action applicants this
year, up 16% from last year. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology
is expecting that once applications have been counted, it will see a
10% increase from 3,493 early applications last year.

Students who apply under early-action programs
typically send their materials by Nov. 1 and are notified in December.
If accepted, they are under no obligation to attend. Admissions
officials say the final tallies may be slightly different after all
applications have been counted.

Last year, both Harvard and Princeton announced they
would abandon their early-admission programs in an effort to increase
access for disadvantaged students. Critics of such programs say that
the process benefits students who attend well-funded high schools and
can afford private guidance counselors.

So far, most top schools have left their programs in
place, but the decisions by Harvard and Princeton -- Princeton's
program was binding, but Harvard's was not -- have caused a shift in
where students apply early. Many students who would have applied to
those schools are now applying to rival schools to secure a spot
elsewhere early.

To be sure, factors other than the Harvard and
Princeton decisions have contributed to the increases in early
applicants that schools are reporting. Individual students are applying
to an increasing number of colleges, high school counselors and
admissions deans say, and more students prefer to apply early.

Students generally feel they have nothing to lose by
applying early to their second or third choices if those schools offer
nonbinding admission, says Bari Meltzer Norman, director of Expert
Admissions LLC, which offers private guidance-counseling services for
students.

But that doesn't mean they will attend those schools
if admitted. Unlike early-decision programs, which are binding, early-
action programs allow students to wait until May to make a final
decision. Therefore, they can apply to more schools under regular
decision admission before choosing a college. "As the colleges are
being more strategic in how they structure their admissions policies,
students are being more strategic in where they apply," Ms. Meltzer
Norman says.

As a result, some top schools that offer nonbinding
early-action admission say their yield -- or the percentage of students
accepted who decide to attend -- will be more difficult to predict this
year. Yields are important to colleges because they are closely
monitored by competing schools, potential donors and applicants as an
indication of the college's appeal.

Georgetown, in Washington, is also likely to have
received some applicants who would have applied early to the University
of Virginia, another selective school that eliminated early admissions
this year after Harvard and Princeton announced their decisions, says
Charles Deacon, dean of admissions at Georgetown.

Last year, Georgetown's yield was 60% for its
early-action applicants, but this year, he expects it to fall to 50%.
There is "probably a greater chance we will be using the wait list more
than before this year, because our yield rate will go down," Mr. Deacon
says.

Harvard and Princeton also say their yields will
likely be affected this year. Princeton in previous years has accepted
about 48% of its class via early decision. This year, it is possible
that students may pick other colleges that offer early admission. "We
know our yield will go down slightly, and our admit rate will go up,"
says Princeton Dean of Admission Janet Lavin Rapelye.

Not all schools that offer nonbinding early-action
programs and compete with Harvard and Princeton for applicants saw
large increases in applications. Stanford University's numbers were
relatively stable. So far this year, the school has received 4,504
applications, compared with 4,574 for all of last year. Richard Shaw,
dean of undergraduate admission and financial aid, expects the final
tally to be close to last year's.