Harvard changes early policy

Jake OktawiecAdmits from the Class of 2007 gather around the Claw last weekend. Beginning this fall, students applying early to Stanford, Harvard or Yale will all face the same early admission policies.

Responding to an unparalleled 25 percent increase in early admission applications for its class of 2007, Harvard has reverted back to a single-choice Early Action program for undergraduate admissions.

Beginning this fall, high school seniors apply to Harvards early admission program will not be allowed to apply early admission to any other university. This change means that Stanford, Harvard and Yale will all have identical early admission policies beginning next year.

I think Harvards move is precisely the right one: the policy that Stanford, Yale and now Harvard have adopted makes clear to students that applying early is appropriate when you have a clear first-choice college, said Dean of Admission and Financial Aid, Robin Mamlet.

Last year, Harvard allowed students to apply to binding Early Decision programs at other schools, in addition to its Early Action program. Stanford and Yale have always required that students apply to only one early admission program. Both recently changed their policies to create non-binding programs in which students are allowed to apply to other schools in the regular admissions cycle and wait until May to make their final choices.

Harvard has always had a non-binding program.

At Stanford, we made this change because we wanted to continue to offer an early option for students for whom Stanford was in fact the clear first choice, and we also wanted to ease the pressure of having to commit before May 1, Mamlet said.

According to Harvard, about 8 percent of the students accepted early this year withdrew their applications because of acceptances to other schools with binding Early Decision programs, creating a slight decrease in early yield compared to previous years.

Our return to a single early application policy is far better for students, said Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers in a press release. It is more closely aligned with the original intent of early admission programs, which are designed for students with a clear and well-considered interest in a particular college or university.

Stanford students have different opinions on the Harvard change.

I would have still applied to Harvard early because it was my only early application, said freshman Tanya Haj-Hassan, who applied to Harvard early last year and was deferred. She was accepted in the regular application pool.

Im not sure what made me choose Stanford over Harvard, she said. I think I based my decision on instinct. I had never visited either university and knew very little about them. Something told me that I would be happiest at Stanford so I chose to come here.

Another freshman, Vinay Mahagaokar, emphasized that he didnt know where he wanted to go to school, so applying to multiple schools early was a good option.

I applied to MIT and Harvard Early Action because I didnt have a first choice school, but I wanted to find out if I got in anywhere in December. Had this new policy been in place when I applied, I probably wouldnt have applied to Harvard early because it wasnt my first choice, Mahagaokar said.

With their prospective policy changes, Stanford, Yale and now Harvard are all acting in violation of admissions guidelines set forth by the National Association for College Admission Counseling, which stipulate that a student should be able to apply to other colleges without restrictions. Princeton and Brown are among other universities also in conflict with the NACAC rules, as they have already refused to change their one-school, binding Early Decision programs.

In a letter to the NACAC Vice President for Admission Martin A. Wilder, Jr., Mamlet wrote, I regret very much the awkwardness of the relationship in which we now find ourselves, relative to NACAC. I have only the utmost respect for this organization, and would never place Stanford in opposition to it lightly . . . My belief is that, given the realities of todays highly competitive atmosphere, single-choice Early Action in fact is the best practice.

The NACAC has been relatively responsive to the violations of these universities, issuing a statement indicating that the institutions will not be sanctioned.

Articles in the national media have created widespread awareness of some high-profile instances of alleged noncompliance with NACACs Admission Decision Options document, Wilder said. He added, We are facing mounting challenges to our standards as new, restrictive Early Action policies emerge. Therefore, it does not appear prudent to pursue sanctions against members, at least without first revisiting the language of our standards.