Harvard, Princeton to resume early admissions
Harvard and Princeton, two of the most competitive Ivy League colleges, will resume an early-action program as part of their admissions this fall, officials announced Thursday.
Harvard and Princeton, two of the most competitive Ivy League colleges, will resume an early-action program as part of their admissions this fall, officials announced Thursday.
Both schools eliminated early-action programs several years ago as a way to open access to more low-income and minority applicants and remove some of the pressure and complexity of the process. Early action generally is considered to favor students from higher-income families who can make a decision earlier, don't need to weigh aid packages from other schools, and are better prepared to navigate the admissions process.
But Harvard and Princeton officials said they discovered they were missing out on some of the nation's most talented applicants, including minority and low-income students.
"In eliminating our early program four years ago, we hoped other colleges and universities would do the same - and they haven't," Princeton president Shirley M. Tilghman said in a prepared statement. "One consequence is that some students who really want to make their college decision as early as possible in their senior year apply to other schools early, even if their first choice is Princeton."
The University of Pennsylvania has maintained its binding early-decision program, which generally yields nearly 50 percent of its freshman class.
"Institutions need to make decisions for their schools, but then also take a look at the larger landscape," said Eric J. Furda, Penn's dean of admissions. "That just didn't make sense for Penn. The students we're enrolling through early decision really set the foundation for the class."
Early-decision students tend to be "slightly stronger" than those admitted through regular decision, he said. Increasingly, more minority and low-income students are among the early-decision pool, he added.
Harvard president Drew Faust said Harvard wanted to tap into the growing landscape of early decision.
"Over the past several years . . . interest in early admissions has increased, as students and families from across the economic spectrum seek certainty about college choices and financing," she said.
At Harvard and Princeton, the early-action programs will not be binding - as Penn's program is - and students don't have to make a decision until May 1, the same date as regular-admission students, officials said. They will have to apply by Nov. 1 and will be notified by Dec. 15 if they are admitted.
But students may apply early action only to one school. They then may apply to other schools during the regular admission process.
"This process also allows students who wish to compare financial-aid awards to do so before making final decisions," Princeton said in its statement.
Harvard had a nonbinding program until 2007, when it decided to eliminate it and use only regular admission.
Princeton's program, which ended about the same time, was binding, meaning students who were admitted had to commit to the university.
Harvard, Princeton, and Penn all offer generous financial-aid packages to students with grants, not loans.
