Harvard Says 'So Long' to Early Admissions
One of the inherent advantages enjoyed by college applicants who apply under early admission programs is that the simple fact of applying early communicates a student's strong interest in attending the school in question.
Starting next year, applicants to Harvard will no longer be able to call on this option. Harvard has announced that, beginning with 2007-2008 application season, all applications will be accepted and reviewed under the regular January 1 deadline.
This move may force some of next year's applicants to make a clear (or clearer) choice between Harvard and other selective schools early in the application season.
All but one of the other Ivy League member schools look set to continue their early decision programs. It's well known that they admit a disproportionately large share of their students from EA applicant pools. So what happens if Harvard is your top choice school, but you're also sincerely interested in Princeton?
You think you might increase your chances at Princeton by applying early, but Princeton's ED program is binding. If you were accepted at Princeton you would have to give up your dream of Harvard.
The answer to this quandary is obvious: you should apply to both schools under the regular, non-binding admissions deadlines. However, that resolution may not be that easy to accept for someone who has their heart set on the Ivy League and who thinks they need every admissions advantage they can get.
Harvard's move will also mean that no one will know whether or not they've been accepted before the April 1 notification date. That may be longer than some people can bear to wait. Some applicants may opt to apply for early admissions to other schools rather than endure the anxiety of waiting until spring to learn their college admissions outcomes.
Ironically, the gesture of foregoing the chance of winning early admission to another selective school in order to keep in the running for Harvard -- and the implicit willingness to wait until spring for an admissions decision -- might provide the same expression of strong interest in Harvard that applying under its early action program would have if it were still in effect.
Starting next year, applicants to Harvard will no longer be able to call on this option. Harvard has announced that, beginning with 2007-2008 application season, all applications will be accepted and reviewed under the regular January 1 deadline.
This move may force some of next year's applicants to make a clear (or clearer) choice between Harvard and other selective schools early in the application season.
All but one of the other Ivy League member schools look set to continue their early decision programs. It's well known that they admit a disproportionately large share of their students from EA applicant pools. So what happens if Harvard is your top choice school, but you're also sincerely interested in Princeton?
You think you might increase your chances at Princeton by applying early, but Princeton's ED program is binding. If you were accepted at Princeton you would have to give up your dream of Harvard.
The answer to this quandary is obvious: you should apply to both schools under the regular, non-binding admissions deadlines. However, that resolution may not be that easy to accept for someone who has their heart set on the Ivy League and who thinks they need every admissions advantage they can get.
Harvard's move will also mean that no one will know whether or not they've been accepted before the April 1 notification date. That may be longer than some people can bear to wait. Some applicants may opt to apply for early admissions to other schools rather than endure the anxiety of waiting until spring to learn their college admissions outcomes.
Ironically, the gesture of foregoing the chance of winning early admission to another selective school in order to keep in the running for Harvard -- and the implicit willingness to wait until spring for an admissions decision -- might provide the same expression of strong interest in Harvard that applying under its early action program would have if it were still in effect.
posted by AllStarEssays at 1:02 PM
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