The freshman class of 2004 at Yale and Stanford universities will not have the option of applying to the schools through early decision, a policy both schools have announced will be discontinued. Under the current policy, students that are accepted as early decision applicants to many schools are legally bound to withdraw their applications from other institutions and attend the school that accepted them.
Through the new policy, called early action, students can still apply early to the top schools of their choice. They will still know whether they have been accepted by December, but they will not be obligated to attend the first school that accepted them. Since students applying to those schools can now apply to many schools early in their senior year of high school without being tied to any one in particular, they will not be left scrambling in January to send out applications.
In the past, the early decision process was criticized for forcing students to decide too early where they want to spend their college years. Opponents of the policy also claim that it hurts low-income families that rely heavily on financial aid by making them to decide on a school before getting financial aid packages.
Under the new early action policy, students can make the most of their decision because they will know where they have been accepted early on, and since they do not need to make a final decision until May, they can weigh all options, inclusive of financial aid packages.
Yale and Stanford, both Ivy League schools, are part of a growing trend that experts say will have to continue if schools wish to remain competitive. Colleges that choose to institute this new policy will gain the favor of students and parents left with more choices, and competition amongst schools will be increased to lure students.
The question now is whether other top universities will follow suit. Since this program hurts the yield quotient of some universities in their national ranks, schools like Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania have not jumped to join Yale and Stanford. It is not until all schools adapt these practices, though, that students will finally have total decision-making powers in where they attend college.
