BOSTON
In a change certain to shake up college admissions, Harvard University will ditch its “early action” round of applications on the grounds that it favors wealthier students over minorities and the poor. It called on other universities to follow suit.
Starting next year, Harvard will eliminate its early round of admissions that allows high school students to apply by Nov. 1 of their senior year and receive either an acceptance, rejection or deferment by Dec. 15.
Applicants hoping to enter in the fall of 2008 will face a common application due date of Jan. 1.
“The college admissions process has become too pressured, too complex and too vulnerable to public cynicism,” says Harvard interim President Derek Bok. “We hope that doing away with early admission will improve the process and make it simpler and fairer.”
Early-action applicants must agree not to apply early to other schools but can apply elsewhere in the spring and weigh all offers before picking a college by May. More commonly, colleges allow students to apply early, which requires them to commit to attending if accepted.
Early admissions programs were designed to let students get the process out of the way once they had selected a college. Such programs also help schools like Harvard identify particularly enthusiastic applicants.
