WEB UPDATE, September 14, 1:30 p.m.
Harvard University will remove its early admissions program in the fall of 2007, making it the first Ivy League university to do so. Although Harvard made Tuesday's announcement with the hope that other institutions would follow its lead, Dartmouth does not plan to alter its early decision program in the near future.
"Every time we've [reviewed our admissions policies] in the recent past, we've come to the conclusion that early decision works well for Dartmouth and its students," Dean of Admissions Karl Furstenberg said. "There's no immediate need to change."
Despite Harvard's efforts to expand financial aid and increase openness in admissions in recent years, Harvard officials argued that the early admissions program was an obstacle to low-income and working-class students.
"Students from more sophisticated backgrounds and affluent high schools often apply early to increase their chances of admission, while minority students and students from rural areas, other countries, and high schools with fewer resources miss out," Harvard Interim President Derek Bok said.
Binding early decision programs like Dartmouth's put students who need financial aid at a disadvantage because they prevent them from comparing aid packages for multiple schools, Bok said.
Harvard offers a non-binding early action program that allows students to make a final decision in May of their senior year and compare financial aid packages from different schools. However, William Fitzsimmons, Harvard's dean of admissions, believes that this program still contributes to the inequalities and pressures of college admissions, citing the difficulty that some have distinguishing between early action and binding early decision programs.
"Thus students from less advantaged backgrounds either fail to take advantage of early admission because they are less well-advised overall, or they consciously avoid our program on the mistaken assumption that they will be unable to compare financial aid packages," Fitzsimmons said.
Furstenberg, however, says that early admissions programs are not as clear a barrier to low-income students as Harvard claims.
While disparities do exist between the quality of college counseling at high schools across the country, Dartmouth has worked to provide outreach programs to give students from low-income and minority backgrounds the opportunity to learn about the admissions process, Furstenberg said.
"We have worked hard to diversify the early decision pool with some success in recent years," Furstenberg said. "At the same time the overall racial and socio-economic diversity of the entering class has increased in recent years."
In addition, Furstenberg believes that Harvard's claim regarding the disadvantages of early admissions when it comes to financial aid packages is lacking when it comes to schools in the Ivy League.
According to Furstenberg, Dartmouth offers need blind admissions and extremely attractive financial aid awards to early applicants.
"If for some reason our aid award is not adequate for a student, we are very willing to adjust awards," Furstenberg added.
Of the 398 students admitted from the early decision pool to Dartmouth's Class of 2010, only about five students ultimately chose not to attend for financial reasons according to Furstenberg. Based on such evidence, Furstenberg believes that the early admissions programs of well-endowed institutions like those in the Ivy League pose minimal drawbacks to lower income or minority applicants.
Whether or not low-income or minority students apply early or regular decision is less important, Furstenberg says, than the ultimate enrollment of a diverse class.
In trying to illustrate another benefit of Harvard's recent decision, Jeremy Knowles, interim dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard, pointed out the negative effects of the frenzy surrounding college admissions and of early admission programs in particular.
"These programs distort the high school experience by forcing both students and colleges to commit prematurely, based only upon the record at the end of the student's junior year," Knowles said.
However, Furstenberg maintains that Dartmouth's early admissions program has distinct benefits.
"Dartmouth is highly attractive and a first choice for many students," Furstenberg said. "Those students can simplify the process for themselves by having the option to apply to the College early decision."
Furstenberg believes that the admissions environment will undoubtedly change as a result of Harvard's decision. With the Ivy League previously enrolling about 25 to 30 percent of its students early, Furstenberg believes that Harvard's decision may lead to significant increases in the regular decisions applicant pools of these schools.
Without any early admission, Furstenberg speculates that students may face more pressure and uncertainty about realistic college choices, leading them to submit more applications.
"I think the bigger concern is that...we're all going to be under much more time pressure to sort through more applications in limited time because the regular pool would get larger," Furstenberg said.
Finally, Furstenberg responded to claims that students who gain early admission often disengage from their academic experience during the second semester of their senior year. He said he sees no evidence that this is a serious issue among the high performing students admitted to schools like Harvard or Dartmouth, who perform well until they graduate.
While Furstenberg believes Harvard made its decision with the right motives, he remains unsure if other institutions on par with Harvard will follow its example in the future.
"I give Harvard some credit for making a decision that they think is right," Furstenberg said. "We'll just have to wait and see what happens, but I don't see any evidence now that other schools will likely change their plans."
Harvard plans to closely monitor the impact of this change for a two- to three-year trial period in order make sure the change does not negatively impact student quality.
While some have speculated that Harvard might lose some very talented students as a result of this decision, others have said that Harvard is an institution that can afford the risk of eliminating early admission because it will remain the top choice of many students.
