Harvard University, one of the country’s most prestigious higher education institutions, recently shut down its early admissions program, according to an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Harvard’s Dean of Students William Fitzsimmons said the university decision was made in response to concerns that “early applicants tended to be disproportionately white and affluent.”
Unlike Fitzsimmons, Fairfield administrators believe the early decision program would be too valuable to lose.
Judith Dobai, associate vice president of enrollment management, explained the impact of early action in the admissions process at Fairfield.
“Fairfield received about 45 percent of their applicant pool through early action but accepted the same percentage of prospective students from both the early and regular admission pools,” she said. “While need-based financial aid is given to both regular and early admissions students, in order to be eligible for merit scholarships, a student must apply before the early deadline.”
Kristen Rossi ’08 is one example of early decision gone right.
Rossi applied early in November through an early decision program and decided to attend the University because she had “applied and received aid through the (early decision) process.”
This inability to explore other possibly more lucrative offers from competing universities is the primary criticism of the early decision program and has been deftly handled by the admissions department here at Fairfield.
Dobai explained, “For the class of 2010, the University moved from a binding early decision program to a non binding early action program” as a way to allow students to explore various other offers.
“If they (Fairfield) did away with the early admissions completely, a lot of kids who were on the fence but were swayed by money may go elsewhere,” said Joe Fusco ’08.
“I wasn’t sure about where to go,” he added, but after receiving an aid package, he made the choice to attend Fairfield.
Eliminating the early decision program at Fairfield would have direct a correlation with the “caliber,” as Fusco put it, of admitted Fairfield classes.
“Fairfield has no plans to eliminate the early action program because applicants are given until January to make their decision, and they have sufficient time to compare the financial aid awards and admission decisions,” said Dobai.
Though the early action program will absolutely remain at Fairfield, student opinions on the issue are mixed.
“[Universities] should keep it because if a student knows where he or she wants to go, then they should be able to apply early,” said Megan Hellehe ’08.
Sarah Haas ’10 agreed.
“It has nothing to do with income of students. It only puts the student at ease because it makes the decision easier for him or her,” she said.
Though some students contest the belief that wealthy students are favored, others believe it is a real issue.
“It’s good they (universities) shut it down. It puts people at a disadvantage and doesn’t give everyone the same opportunities towards getting a scholarship,” said Anthony Nicoletti ’10.
Antonio Plasencia ’07 shared Nicoletti’s opinion, saying early decision programs “should be taken away in order to give everyone a fair opportunity.”
Freshman Eric Lassard also sees the impact of the early admissions program on universities nationwide.
“It (the early admissions program) favors the better off applicants, but it’s better for the school, so most will probably keep it,” he said.
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