University officials have acknowledged that Tufts' early decision option may put stress on high school students, but Ballou and Bendetson do not endorse Yale President Richard Levin's proposal to remove the program from America's top colleges. In a Dec. 13 New York Times article, Levin said that the increasingly popular option for high school seniors is unfair and should be abandoned.
According to Levin, the process harms students in need of financial aid, students with poor college counseling, and students of color. "If we all got rid of it, it would be a good thing," he told the Times. Levin is currently lobbying other colleges to abandon the process, and said he will abolish the program at Yale if other elite universities follow suit.
University President Larry Bacow said discussion on the issue was important but that early decision ultimately benefits certain students. "Levin has stimulated a healthy debate on an important topic," he said. "Early decision works well for students who are absolutely clear about their preferences. However, most students can be happy at more than one place. Some students lose sight of this fact as they seek to narrow their options to a single first choice."
For Levin, the narrowing down happens all too early. He said that college decisions cause more stress when pushed into the junior year of high school and that, as it stands now, the system benefits colleges more than students.
"The move towards early decision [can] increase the stress of college admissions. [It] stresses everyone else involved in the admissions process - parents who feel compelled to complete college tours early, high school teachers who must complete letters of recommendations early, and colleges that must process thousands of applications early."
Tufts Dean of Admissions David Cuttino agrees that the proliferation of information has pushed some of the college search process into junior year, but said the trend actually benefits many juniors. "It's clear that there has been more research, and greater readiness on the part of students," he said.
Cuttino insisted it would be a mistake to encourage or pressure students to apply to a school early if they are not sure it is their first choice. "Early decision is an appropriate choice for students who know that this is where they really want to be," Cuttino said. "The danger is if there's an emphasis on [early application] for strategy, that it's not really a student's first choice."
Provost Sol Gittleman concurred, saying that early decision is an "appropriate activity for a University," but that students "should only apply early if they've fallen madly in love with the school."
To give students the time they need to make that decision, Tufts offers two rounds of early decisions. Early Decision II applications are due just weeks before the regular deadline.
Last year the Tufts admissions office enrolled nearly 40 percent of incoming students through early decision - the largest percentage ever. And while preliminary numbers this year indicate that early decision applications are still on the rise, Cuttino said the admissions office continues to hold early and regular applicants to the same standards. "From the standpoint of the admissions committee, they will only admit those students they feel they would admit in the final review process," he said. A study done by Harvard's Kenendy School of Government, however, found that the benefit of early decision is equivalent to 100 points added to an applicant's SAT score. Levin's opinion prompted debates all over the Times' editorial pages, with people who believed that Levin is a radical, that he misjudged the process, or that he might be on the right track. Some said that early decision is simply part of the American trend of moving important dates forward, similar to the Christmas shopping season and presidential primaries. Others maintained that the process is beneficial for high school seniors because students with an affinity for a particular school can avoid the stress and cost of filling out multiple applications.
A Times editorial on Dec. 16 agreed with Levin. It said that it is easy to see why colleges like the system but that it penalizes "those less well situated or not ready to make up their minds, or most in need of generous financial aid offers." The editorial further alleged that it helps colleges reduce uncertainties and eases the burden on admissions offices nationwide by reducing multiple applications.
Some op-eds asserted that early decision is simply a way for colleges to boost their rankings in magazines like US News & World Report by inflating the number of students who accept offers of admissions. Cuttino said that if schools were accepting to increase ratings it would be reflected in the caliber of students at the institution.
"We're talking about admitting students we think we would admit in the end. With the same level of achievement, interest, and experience that makes them compelling candidates," he said.
Ultimately, Tufts officials are uncertain whether there will be any significant changes in the admissions process. "I think the discussion of this issue is healthy," Cuttino said. "I don't think it is likely to see many institutions that will suddenly make that change."
