Journeys in Learning Beyond the Classroom

Harvard Adopts New Rules for Early-Admission Applicants
By TAMAR LEWIN
 

eversing an admissions policy it announced last year, Harvard announced yesterday that as of this fall it would no longer allow applicants who file for early admission to apply early at other colleges.

William R. Fitzsimmons, Harvard's dean of admissions, said the change came in recognition of the increasing pressure many high school seniors felt to apply early, even if they did not yet know what university they wanted to attend.

"The process for high school seniors has become more and more frenzied," Mr. Fitzsimmons said. "Guidance counselors tell us it boils down to an early-application free-for-all, which is not healthy. We got 7,600 early-admissions applications this year, 1,500 more than last year. Our system was approaching the point where another jump of that magnitude would make it very difficult to make thoughtful decisions."

Harvard does not require early-decision applicants to promise that, if accepted, they will enroll, and last year, it allowed students to file early-action applications at an unlimited number of colleges, even if one had a binding early-decision policy.

At the same time, Harvard set off a tempest in the teapot of Ivy League admissions by suggesting that it might consider enrolling students accepted under its early-action plan, even if they were also accepted by a university, like Princeton, with binding early admissions.

Mr. Fitzsimmons said Harvard had never really intended to allow admitted candidates to break their promises to another institution.

"Personal qualities and character are paramount in our admissions," he said, "and we want to make sure we take people who honor their commitments."

But the mere suggestion that there could be a breach of the longstanding gentlemen's agreement to respect one another's binding admissions offers set off shock waves at other selective colleges, and last fall Yale and Stanford announced that they were adopting nonbinding early-admissions policies, like Harvard's.

There is considerable overlap among the candidates for Ivy League colleges. This year, Mr. Fitzsimmons said, Harvard accepted 88 early-action applicants who were also accepted early at places with binding early-decision plans.

Under the rules of the National Association for College Admission Counseling, binding plans supersede all other applications, so students accepted under them must immediately withdraw all other applications.

Mr. Fitzsimmons said that to the best of his knowledge all the students involved withdrew their Harvard applications and went to the university they were committed to attend.

"A handful of them had some confusion, or some regrets, and we talked to them, but I know of no one who didn't follow the rules," he said.

"We believe that it's best for most students to have time to make their decisions," he said. "Under our nonbinding policy, students admitted early have until May 1 to tell us whether they're coming here. For many students, it is very helpful to take that time senior year to consider their options, to compare their financial-aid packages, to visit colleges and talk to each other."