Is Early Decision a college admissions racket that should be broken?
(November 18, 2002) This month Stanford and Yale took a bold step forward in the college admissions game by abandoning their Early Decision programs, which require students who apply in November and are accepted in December to attend those universities. Beginning next year, students applying early to Stanford and Yale will still find out in December if they’ve been admitted, but they’ll be allowed to apply to other colleges, and won’t have to decide which school they will attend until May. Any parent of a college-bound high school senior knows all too well the tremendous pressures these kids are facing. Early Decision offers students who know – or who think they know – precisely which college is right for them the chance to apply early, find out early, and coast the rest of senior year – if they get in. Savvy students and their parents, as well as college counselors at privileged high schools also figured out a few years ago that applying Early Decision gave a student better odds, some
