Nov. 1 marked the deadline for early applications to the nation's most competitive colleges, but this year changes to the process at Harvard University, Yale University and Stanford University resulted in unusual application yields for those schools.
Early applications to Harvard fell 47 percent this year, down from its record high number of 7,615 applicants in 2002, while both Yale and Stanford reported significant increases in the number of early applications they received.
"We have received approximately 4,000 early applications this year," Stanford's Dean of Admissions Robin Mamlet wrote in an e-mail. "Our applicant numbers are running well ahead of the 2,500 applications we received last year under our early decision program."
The changes in applicant numbers are attributed to the three schools' switch to a new early admissions policy: single-choice early action. Single-choice early action is a non-binding application process, however it limits students applying early to only one college.
Harvard had offered a non-binding early action application process since 1999, where students could apply to any number of non-binding schools early. Yale and Stanford had previously used binding early decision, which limited students to applying solely to that school and required them to enroll upon admission.
Mamlet reassured critics of her school's decision to switch to the new admissions policy that the rise in early application numbers was an indicator of its success. "The fact that we've received over 1,500 more applications than last year suggests that our new early action option more closely matches the needs and desires of our applicant pool than did our old early decision program," she said.
While Duke has kept its binding early decision program, the number of early applicants has not been affected by Harvard, Yale or Stanford's switch. Preliminary early application numbers show a yield roughly on-target with last year's number of applications.
"It is likely that the students previously applied to more than one early action school, which is probably why Harvard saw the decrease," said Christoph Guttentag, dean of undergraduate admissions. "I think we'll see a minimal effect, if any, on applications this year [because of the switch]."
However, Princeton University, which also stayed with its binding early decision application process, has seen a 20 to 25 percent decrease in applications, The Harvard Crimson reported.
Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Duke and Princeton are all members of the National Association for College Admissions Counseling--a trade group of collegiate and high-school college admissions counselors. All of the NACAC member schools agreed to a Statement of Principles of Good Practice in 2001. Single-choice early action is a violation of that agreement, and NACAC has said it is investigating the matter before making any decisions.
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