Schools Mull Impact of Admit Switch

Decisions by Princeton, Stanford and Yale earlier this year to adopt binding early-admission policies will leave college applicants with tougher choices than ever.

It also gives undecided early applicants more reason to apply to Harvard instead of other top schools, Director of Admissions Marlyn McGrath Lewis '70 said in a telephone interview yesterday.

Princeton and Yale have switched from early-action to early-decision policies. This year, Stanford will begin its first early-admission program, which is binding.

Under early-action and early-decision policies, students must apply by November 1 and are notified in mid-December. But early-decision schools require accepted students to attend in the fall, while early-action ones allow them to delay their decisions until the spring.

"This ups the ante tremendously," McGrath Lewis said. "You have to be sure that you are sure."

Although Harvard has a higher yield--the percentage of accepted students who choose to attend--than Princeton, Stanford and Yale, the three schools are commonly seen as Harvard's biggest rivals.

Harvard's decision last year to begin using the Common Application--a standard form used for applying to many smaller schools--also helped to make last year's applicant pool the largest in the college's history.

McGrath Lewis speculated that Harvard's early-application pool would increase while the overall pool would decrease. But she said there is no official consensus in the Admissions Office about the effect of the three schools' decisions.

Margit A. Dahl, Yale's admissions director, said the school believes that the early-action system has become "one step in a series of badge-collecting."

"We have been increasingly concerned that more and more kids are applying with questionable intent to go to the school," she said. "Early decision gives some clarity to the process."

She said she had already received a lot of positive feedback. In particular, she cited joyful responses from college counselors at Andover Academy and other preparatory schools.

But Dahl also acknowledged that Yale would probably lose applicants, especially to Harvard. She said she had no way yet to gauge the net gain or loss.

Efforts to reach Princeton and Stanford admissions officers were unsuccessful.

McGrath Lewis said Harvard isn't planning any responses to the changes. "Our concern really is with quality," she said. "Harvard is not at this time planning any alteration in the early process." But the school will keep its eyes open for trends in admissions, she said.

Brown is the only other remaining Ivy League school with a non-binding early policy. Melisa W. Lai, an admissions officer there, estimated that Brown would see only a small rise in early-action applicants.

"Students will apply early no matter what," she said.

Lai also said that although Brown has considered switching to early-decision admissions, it is waiting to see the effects of the changes at Princeton, Stanford and Yale. Any shift at Brown would be at least a few years away, she said.

The schools contacted said they could not assess the effect of the new policies until all applications have been submitted.

"We'll know in November," McGrath Lewis said

Efforts to reach Princeton and Stanford admissions officers were unsuccessful.

McGrath Lewis said Harvard isn't planning any responses to the changes. "Our concern really is with quality," she said. "Harvard is not at this time planning any alteration in the early process." But the school will keep its eyes open for trends in admissions, she said.

Brown is the only other remaining Ivy League school with a non-binding early policy. Melisa W. Lai, an admissions officer there, estimated that Brown would see only a small rise in early-action applicants.

"Students will apply early no matter what," she said.

Lai also said that although Brown has considered switching to early-decision admissions, it is waiting to see the effects of the changes at Princeton, Stanford and Yale. Any shift at Brown would be at least a few years away, she said.

The schools contacted said they could not assess the effect of the new policies until all applications have been submitted.

"We'll know in November," McGrath Lewis said