Harvard and Princeton End Early Admissions

(PRWeb Oct. 25, 2006) Harvard and Princeton announced that they would discontinue Early Admissions beginning after Fall 2007. They were the first Ivy League colleges to do so, and it appears that none of the others are ready to follow.

Early Admissions allows students to apply before the regular application cycle and to find out if they have been accepted before the regular decision students have even begun to apply. If a student is accepted, s/he must commit to attending the college. Students send a good-faith deposit to show their commitment. Colleges fill as much as 40% of their classes with Early Admissions students.

Early Admission is mostly the realm of "advantaged" students, those who have prepared well for college and those who can afford it without benefit of financial aid. Disadvantaged students generally do not apply Early Admission because they cannot commit to a single school without first waiting to compare financial aid packages from several schools.

Harvard and Princeton reportedly based their decision to end Early Admissions on these facts. Both schools cited a desire to level the playing field between advantaged and disadvantaged applicants by allowing only regular admission and decision.

See full press release