(Editor's note: After a decade in which high school students across the country have increasingly turned to early decision when applying to college, national controversy has erupted over the benefits of binding November applications. This is the final article in a three-part series examining the complicated issues surrounding early decision policy.)
On a recent Tuesday, Hanover High senior Jack Nelson reflected on the just-completed early decision process. A "huge" number of students used the early decision option last fall, he said, estimating that eight classmates had applied early to Dartmouth alone.
"My class is full of overachievers," Nelson, who was admitted to Williams College last month, said.
Meanwhile, about six miles south at Lebanon High School, Mary Caitlin Flanagan reflected on her experience with early decision. The high school senior had considered applying early decision to New York University, but decided against it about three weeks before the deadline, in part because of financial reasons -- she's the second of seven children.
Flanagan said of early financial aid packages, "You sort of get what they give you."
Nelson's and Flanagan's experiences with the early decision process may not be representative of high school seniors as a whole, but they do illustrate some of the biases that a growing number of critics say have become endemic to early decision.
In Hanover, where, according to the 1990 U.S. Census, the median household income falls at $51,021, an overwhelming proportion of seniors applied early and, for the most part, were not particularly concerned about financial aid.
In Lebanon, where statistics for the same year show households averaging $32,221 in annual income, fewer students were tapped into the early decision process and more were worried about financial aid.
As both colleges and applicants have increasingly embraced early decision in recent years -- colleges to increase the number of students admitted who attend, students because they recognize an admissions advantage -- experts in higher education have spoken with increased fervor against ultra-popular November programs. They say such plans amplify just the kind of socio-economic discrepancies that lead Hanover High students to apply early in huge numbers and many Lebanon students to opt out.
The advantage of applying early -- equivalent to a 100-point boost in SAT scores, according to a recent Harvard study -- has seen generally white, suburban, upper-middle class students to file applications in November.
These patterns can come at the expense of less-affluent students who would prefer to wait to compare and negotiate financial aid packages from several schools and who face diminished likelihood to gain admission in the regular pool.
Dean of Admissions Karl Furstenberg emphasized that financial aid applicants to Dartmouth are not at a disadvantage in applying early because, he said, the College grants the same award to students regardless of the timing of their applications.
Students who are unsatisfied with a financial aid award granted during early decision can appeal that award; what they give up is the opportunity to bargain for better packages from several schools.
Nonetheless, Furstenberg acknowledged that students with real financial needs lose bargaining power in early decision.
"I know when I talk to students, if a student says, 'Look, I -- Dartmouth's really my first choice, but I have to get a lot of financial aid, and I don't know what financial aid I'm going to get, should I wait?' We usually will tell students to wait," Furstenberg said.
At Dartmouth, the financial need difference between early and regular decision applicants is significant. Financial aid applicants make up around 50 percent of the group in November and 60 percent in January.
Another potential bias with early decision is access to information. Critics of the program argue few non-affluent high school seniors even know that early decision exists, much less have time to prepare for the November deadline by taking their SATs in the junior year.
Furstenberg acknowledged that while the field is level once applications have been filed, students from affluent families and prestigious high schools do hold advantages in access to information and counseling prior to applying.
"They have an advantage with or without early decision. It's one of the inequities in American society," Furstenberg said.
While Laura Dresser, a Hanover High senior who was deferred from Brown University's early decision pool last month, did not apply for financial aid, she described the process as unfair to those that do need it. Dresser could not think of any classmates at Hanover High who had decided against early decision for financial reasons.
Meanwhile, at Lebanon High School, Daniel Moccia-Field also received an early decision acceptance from Williams College, without a grant package. Moccia-Field did receive work study and $1,000 in loans, and his parents told him not to worry about it.
"A lot of people aren't that lucky," Moccia-Field noted.
The system, nonetheless, does work out for some. Lebanon High senior Abby Wright was awarded a grant of $15,000 from first choice Wheaton College this fall.
The less controversial early action option can provide the best of both worlds. Emily Andreas, also at Lebanon High, already has a December acceptance from the University of Notre Dame in hand but still holds the opportunity to compare a potential offer from Vassar College.
However, early action programs are less attractive to colleges since they do not guarantee a spike in yield statistics.
Ron Eberhardt is one of five Hanover High counselors -- two full time, two 80 percent, and one 40 percent -- whose jobs include advising 185 seniors on post-graduation plans. He expressed strong reservations about the popularity of early decision, describing the system as generally "more of a hindrance than help" due to the added pressure it puts on students to rush making important life choices.
"I'd love to see everyone abandon it," Eberhardt said, recalling Yale University President Richard Levin's recent declaration of his opposition to early decision.
At Lebanon High School, where three counselors advise a senior class of 190, Dave Faulkner and Jeff Dailey expressed more mixed emotions.
When a student who needs financial aid expresses interest in an early decision program, Dailey explained that he sits down with the student and his or her parents to "talk realistically about it." One factor Dailey brings up with such families is the student's career plan -- that is, whether their likely career will be lucrative and make it easier to pay off student loans.
Many of the students remained undecided as to the merits of early decision; Nelson felt that while it was the best choice for him, he acknowledged many of the criticisms levied against the program.
