Vol.15 No.1 September 2000

A COLLEGE BOUND UPDATE
Early Decision 2000
IN RECENT YEARS, it has been a buyer's market for some students seeking admission to institutions of higher education. A downturn in the numbers of traditional-aged college students meant that applicants often had the upper hand when they negotiated their final admissions and financial aid offer. Students even have felt comfortable waiting until the last minute to commit to a college, using the time to compare financial aid offers and to encourage competing colleges to increase their aid packages.

Under these hectic conditions, more colleges started early decision plans, under which a student firmly commits to a first-choice college early in the admissions cycle. The colleges sought to firm up first-year classes. Yet some students and counselors saw ED programs as a risky endeavor that can carry a high price in terms of decreased aid offers and diminished flexibility.

But these days, ED programs are hot! So as students chart their options this fall-during COLLEGE BOUND's 15th admission season in print-CB again takes a look at early decision programs to update our readers on the latest ED trends.

TABLES TURNED
Suddenly, students and their families find the demographic tables have turned. The number of college applicants is increasing as the so-called "baby boomlet" surges through the nation's school system and into college, returning control of the admissions process to the colleges themselves. As a result, colleges are increasingly using early decision plans to reward the students who are loyal to them from the beginning.

In this new more highly-competitive admissions market, who has the best chance for admissions? For qualified students, there seems to be a shift in the odds to early decision. The acceptance rate for early decision applicants at some colleges has skyrocketed in recent years.

For example, at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, dean of admissions Christopher Hooker-Haring reports an acceptance rate of 68 percent for early decision applicants, compared to a 36 percent acceptance rate during regular decision for the class of 2004. Muhlenberg has seen a remarkable 52 percent growth in the number of early decision applicants between 1998-1999 and 1999-2000.

"It has just exploded," says Hooker-Haring. He expects Muhlenberg to receive enough early decision applications this year that, should he so choose, he could admit the entire freshman class of 500 in this first admissions round. Competition for seats in a college's entering class has intensified, and open seats are becoming a scarce commodity even before the regular deadline. The result? Hooker-Haring believes, "The natural market reaction is that more will apply ED."

BETTER ODDS?
This trend has appeared at other colleges as well. Carroll Griffin, vice president for admissions and retention at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, reports that it received 37 early decision applications in 1999-2000 for an entering class of 430, a number that is up from 14 in 1998-1999. Union introduced it's early decision program to produce precisely that effect. "We started it two years ago to pull our cycle back. We were not getting the applications and deposits we wanted," says Griffin.

Similarly, Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, ranked among the top 35 by U.S. News and World Report, sees a significant portion of its freshman class come in through its early decision program. This year the school admitted 100 of its 850 freshmen through early decision says William Conley, dean of undergraduate admission.

PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT
The ED trend is being driven as much by college encouragement as by student interest. Colleges are increasingly developing and promoting early decision plans that reward the student who commits to them early in the process.

"Early decision candidates will receive preferential consideration for admission and financial aid," says Muhlenberg's Hooker-Haring. "We want the students who want us." This consideration even extends from the academic superstars to the more marginal students. "We would rather accept a middling early decision candidate now than a middling regular candidate later," he told CB.

Union University makes an even stronger commitment to its early decision applicants. "Our intent is to get earlier applications and promise to look at them first with financial aid and housing choices," says Griffin. These students are also placed in the first group to register for classes, increasing their chances of receiving the schedule they want.

More important, Griffin says that early decision admits receive their financial aid packages on an accelerated timeline. This becomes particularly important in the awarding of discretionary funds, which can and do run out before every entering student receives an award package, not a small consideration at a school that will cost students and parents about $16,000 per year for tuition, room and board. "They committed to us, so we should commit to them at that level," Griffin says.

Muhlenberg also makes a greater financial commitment to their early decision admits. Hooker-Haring estimates that early decision admits receive between $200 and $850 more in grant money than do regular decision students. "We run out of dollars before we run out of needy students," he says, adding that some public fears that applying early decision will decrease a student's aid package are unjustified. "It would be a bad business decision to treat your best customers worst."

"ADMIT ONE, YIELD ONE"
Indeed, early decision is a winning business proposition for many colleges and universities. Because early decision applicants make a commitment to attend a school if accepted, institutions are placed in a position of virtual certainty because of these students. Case Western's Conley describes this equation as "admit one, yield one." He says it makes sense for colleges to be "up front about their preference for early decision applicants."

Hooker-Haring adds, "Regular decision candidates are a much different proposition. It is much easier to project yield with early decision," he says, explaining why some schools are so eager to jump on the early decision bandwagon.

In spite of some schools' enthusiastic response to their early decision applicants, it would be a mistake to assume that all colleges have adopted this new attitude. Hooker-Haring comments that the college response to early decision applicants "can vary dramatically from campus to campus." He advises students and counselors to ask their prospective colleges how early decision applicants are considered during the admissions process. "Ask colleges very directly what the impact on me will be," he advises.

A LIMITED OPTION
In spite of increased media attention about the early decision phenomenon, it remains in the minority among approaches to admissions used by schools. "The trend is moving toward more early decision applications, but it is a localized phenomenon," says Case Western's Conley. He observes that there is "a higher proportion as you get close to salt water," explaining the concentration of early decision programs among elite universities on either coast.

The combination of surging demographics and increased early decision opportunities means that colleges are regaining control of the admissions process that recently seemed to be in the hands of the students.

Colleges are now refusing to participate in the "financial aid auction." Hooker-Haring points out that, "More and more colleges are walking away from the auction block. Some students who wait to hold personal auctions are now not even admitted."

ACCELERATING THE PROCESS
Spurred on by media attention, college encouragement and students' desire to maximize their chances for admission, some believe the early decision process is accelerating the college choice process and even calling into question the value of the senior year.

Conley has seen this acceleration in his own work with applicants. "The selection and college choice process has been accelerated [into] the sophomore and junior years. We are now doing direct mail to rising ninth graders," he says. He attributes much of this acceleration to student demand. "We used to recruit them; now they're recruiting us."

Conley sees this speeding up as part of a larger societal trend. "Everything we're doing now in raising our kids is accelerated," he says. He believes that this is an issue for high school counselors regardless of their students' degree of participation in accelerated admissions programs: "If they don't have an early decision epidemic on their hands, they will have some manifestation of accelerated growing up."

When these students apply to colleges, they are likely to perceive early decision as a mandatory rather than optional part of the admissions process. "It is not 'should I apply ED' but 'where should I apply ED,'" says Conley. Adding to the pressure is the public nature of electing to apply to a single, first choice college. "If you don't get in, it is a very public disappointment," he says.

The trend is becoming apparent in schools with high proportions of college-bound students. Judith Williams is director of college counseling for the Shipley School in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, where over half of the graduating class has applied to college under an early decision plan for the past 10 years. This past year, 63 percent of the graduating class of 76 applied to college early decision. "They certainly feel under pressure to make a decision about whether they want to apply," says Williams. "Kids are under pressure to start sooner. They feel behind if they are not visiting [colleges] during spring break of the junior year."

A WARNING
Yet, all of this pressure may not reap the rewards that students expect. Williams expresses a concern that, as more and more students elect to apply under an early decision plan, colleges are more apt to treat these students no better or worse than they used to treat their regular decision applicants. "Families lose sight of the fact that, with a large pool, the perceived advantages decrease," she says. And, some colleges play into this pressure that students and families feel by having not just one but two rounds of early decision consideration, turning the college application process into a strategic campaign. The admissions process becomes "gamesmanship rather than thoughtful decision-making," Williams says.

SENIOR OPTIONS?
With college decisions made so early, the nature of the senior year is changing. "The senior year is becoming obsolete," argues Williams. "It doesn't mean the end of the work ethic, but students see the senior year in a different way."

Keeping students focused during the senior year will be an increasing challenge for counselors, teachers and parents. Conley suggests that "counselors need to do more programmatic things for ninth and tenth graders and their families" that address college selection and the admissions calendar. He also sees a "pronounced need for relevancy in the senior year," suggesting that this be a time for senior projects, independent studies and other curricular and extracurricular activities that students will find engaging.

Union's Griffin agrees that the developmental value of the senior year is as important as the educational value. "There is too much pressure in the senior year," he laments. After a student is accepted through an early decision program, "we want them to enjoy senior year, spend some quality time with Mom and Dad."

CHOOSE WISELY
All of the experts who spoke with CB agree, however, that students and parents should resist the urge to join in the rush to early decision if it is not appropriate for them. All would discourage a student from making a potentially life-changing decision too early. Griffin explains that the choice of college will, for many students, determine the direction that their adult lives will take, including who they marry, who their friends are and where they will live. "Too many kids and families make a rushed decision about college," he says.

Ultimately, early decision programs appear to be a permanent part of the college application landscape for the foreseeable future. While demographic changes will always affect the relative power that colleges and applicants have during the process, early decision will likely remain an admissions option. "Early decision is not going away," says Hooker-Haring. "It is changing the admissions equation in ways that are fundamental." [back to top]

THE COUNSELOR'S CORNER
Advice for Seniors From
a Recent Graduate
THIS IS IT, your final year of high school. Enjoy it. Make the most of it. Next year you will be a freshman again. But if you are planning on a lax senior year, forget it.

This year should be a time to embellish both your grades and extracurricular activities. Your choice of classes should indicate that you are challenging yourself and continuing to explore a subject that interests you. And show colleges that you are a leader by taking a leadership position in your club or activity and sticking with it.

If you have not taken the SAT and the ACT, take them as soon as possible. Most colleges like to see your latest test scores. But if you have already taken the SAT and ACT, and you are not happy with your scores, retake them. Colleges usually consider your best score on either test. Also, some colleges require SAT II subject tests in three subjects of your choice. See your counselor for registration materials or register online (www.act.org or www.collegeboard.org).

By now you should have a tentative list of colleges that interest you. Your list may include "reach" schools, "likely" schools and "safety" schools. You should probably request an application from each school via its website. Don't eliminate a college just because you don't think you have a chance; you may be pleasantly surprised come spring. But, make sure that you have at least a few colleges on your list to which you know you will be accepted and where you know you will be happy.

If you have not yet visited colleges, fall is a good time to do so. Once on campus, make sure you actually stop students to ask them what they both like and dislike about the school. It is good to get another perception of the school rather than to rely entirely upon what the admissions office tells you. It is also very helpful to research your school online at both the school's website and other college admission websites. Some helpful college websites are collegeview.com, collegeboard.com and review.com.

If the college you are applying to requires essays, then you should begin thinking about them in early fall. There is usually at least one essay question that is very general and asks you to write about an experience and how that experience affected your life. On these types of essay, try to pick a topic you really care about or that truly interests you. Show sincerity. Do not, however, write what you think the admissions office wants to hear. But, whatever topic you choose, make the admissions officers know that you are truly interested in their school.

Many colleges also require teacher or counselor recommendations. These are important because they show the college what kind of student you are in the classroom. It is generally a good idea to pick a teacher who knows you well and believes you to be a capable student.

Some colleges have an early decision or early action policy where you can apply in the fall and receive a definite notification of acceptance or denial in December. Although applying early can protect you from months of anxiety, it is only recommended if you are positive that this is the college you want to attend. It is an awfully big commitment to make early on because the early decision policy is binding. If you are accepted, you have to attend. However, the early action policy is non-binding and gives you more flexibility, as you can also apply to colleges under the regular decision option.

After you have been accepted to your college, give yourself a pat on the back. You have been through a stressful process. Yet, do not celebrate by taking a vacation from your schoolwork second semester. Colleges still want to see your second semester grades in order to make sure you haven't been slacking. Even though it rarely happens, every year there are always some students whose admission has been rescinded due to bad grades second semester.

During first semester of my senior year, the college admissions process seemed ominous. I was having trouble narrowing down my college list, my application essay ideas were stagnant and the early decision deadline of November 15 was quickly approaching. What's more, a lack of self-confidence due mainly to standardized test scores made me anticipate a handful of thin envelopes.

Somehow, I managed to get the applications filled out and the essays written and placed safely in the mail a week ahead of the deadline. I applied to a total of nine colleges and universities.

I had to wait until mid-December to hear from my early decision school. I told myself I would not be disappointed if I was rejected because it was such a long shot. But when, with heart pounding, I opened my mailbox and saw the thin envelope, I truly was disappointed. The rejection seemed a bad omen for those letters that would come in the spring.

Now came the real waiting game, which to me was the most difficult part of the admissions process. I knew that a majority of my schools were real reaches and convinced myself not to get my hopes up. But when the letters arrived in early April, my excitement definitely overpowered my disappointment. I was accepted to five of the schools I applied to. The school where I had applied early decision denied me. During regular decision, I was wait listed by one school and denied by two more. I applied to a range of schools: Boston U, Davidson College, Duke, University of Alabama, University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, Washington U, Williams College and Yale. From the colleges that accepted me, I chose the University of Pennsylvania. It was the best "fit" for me academically and socially.

I walked away from the college admissions process very informed and feeling confident about myself and about my future. Tediously filling out all of those applications helped me to better understand my strengths and weaknesses.

Probably my biggest realization in the admissions process was the understanding that college admission is not just about grades and test scores. Colleges want to see who you really are as a person, the whole package. How motivated you are, what you will contribute to a college's atmosphere and which issues you truly care about are all factors that weigh heavily on a college's admission decision. Grades and test scores are important, but they act more as qualifiers than anything else. So remember to ward off senioritis as long as you can. If you take this advice, you should have a memorable senior year and be satisfied with your college acceptances come spring.

Smith Granade graduated from Bayside Academy in Daphne, Alabama, and now attends the University of Pennsylvania. [back to top]

CYBER-U.
The Laptop State. Massachusetts, traditionally known as the "Bay State," may get a new moniker if it follows the recommendation of its Board of Higher Education and buys a laptop computer for all 165,000 students at the state's nine colleges and 15 community colleges. At a cost of $2,100 per computer the board is now trying to find a way to foot the $200 million bill. Some universities such as the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill already give their students laptops when they arrive.
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Go Drexel, Go Wireless. Drexel University in Philadelphia, known for its internships and high-tech learning, has been working to go wireless since 1997. Now this fall, after Philadelphia played host to a high-tech political convention, students have returned to a new wireless learning environment that puts them in total touch with the Internet revolution. Students needed to buy a wireless adaptor for their laptops at the price of around $175 before they could plug in.
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Barry's High Tech Grants. Like most colleges today, Barry U in Miami Shores, Florida, has high-tech aspirations. It has something else as well-a new Department of Education Title III, $175 million grant for "Strengthening Institutions" that is being dedicated to upgrading all facilities and training all professors in the use of the latest generation of cyber-teaching tools. Not only that, Microsoft chose Barry for a $120,000 award, plus $748,000 in new equipment. The money will support a new Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. It will, says Barry's president, Sr. Jeanne O'Laughlin O.P., Ph.D., be "committed to faculty development, both now and in the future."
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Dorm Lectures. Yes, they're coming soon. Northwestern University, for example, is currently wiring its dorms for high-quality video to let students catch important lectures by NU's distinguished faculty at their leisure and in the comfort of their own room instead of in an overcrowded lecture hall. NU's $2 million upgrade brings student living quarters digital video linked to computers.

Students will also be linked into Internet2, which is 45,000 times faster than the Internet students are used to when they arrive at Northwestern. Students will also have a creative role with the capability of using video technology like a film producer. The university now faces the challenge of creating high-quality video courses.
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Princeton Review Online. Now students don't need to leave their rooms to take Princeton Review favorites, test preparation courses for the SAT, GMAT, LSAT, GRE and ACT. "Customized" courses which focus on a student's strengths and weaknesses, online workshops of eight students, trained instructors and extra help sessions are available at www. princetonreview.com. In business since 1981, The Princeton Review, based in New York City, has also launched a program for primary students to maximize their academic potential, found at www.homeroom.com.
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Applications Online Only. Students applying to West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon, West Virginia, will no longer face the stress of getting their application postmarked by the deadline. That's because, starting with this year's applications, the college will require all applicants to apply online.

According to a report by The Chronicle of Higher Education, West Virginia Wesleyan is thought to be the first U.S. undergraduate institution to adopt such a requirement. The college sees online applications as the next step in its quest to become fully wired, a process which also includes a laptop requirement for all students.

Speed and accuracy of application data transfer are seen as the major advantages for both students and the college. Some concern has been expressed about the population on the other side of the "digital divide," the students who do not have access to the internet at home, school or library. However, West Virginia Wesleyan College will be flexible in accommodating prospective applicants with no online access.
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E-Business. Society's growing dependence on the Internet is being reflected in academic programs and teaching methods across the country. For example, beginning this fall, Berkeley College (New York and New Jersey) will offer associate's and bachelor's degrees in e-business. Maryville University in St. Louis, Missouri, will offer a bachelor's degree in e-marketing. The University of Texas System will offer several online masters degrees, including programs in computer science and electrical engineering.

Finally, a coalition of New York colleges comprised of Herkimer County Community College, Monroe Community College and the State University of New York at Buffalo will offer an online master's degree in adult education. [back to top]

Carnegie Classification 2000
A new century requires new categories, and so the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, now located in Menlo Park, California, and under direction of its new president Lee Schulman, has significantly revised the categories it uses to classify colleges and universities.

The old "Carnegie System," first released in 1970 and last updated in 1994, rated top-grant-winning institutions as "Research I," through "Research IV" at the top end. These categories gained wide acceptance and were used in longitudinal research about colleges and universities. The new classification, which is an interim classification to be finalized in 2004, divides schools by number and type of degrees awarded, while the old system emphasized research and selectivity of admissions. Carnegie believes the new system refocuses attention on what's important; a focus on teaching and learning, as recommended by Carnegie's former president, Ernest L. Boyer, and the foundation's studies Scholarship Reconsidered and Scholarship Revisited.

The new system replaces the top four categories with two labels: "Doctoral/Research Universities-Extensive," for universities that grant 50 doctorates a year in at least 15 academic disciplines; and "Doctoral/Research Universities-Intensive," for schools that graduate 10 doctorates a year in a minimum of three disciplines.

Other new Carnegie categories include: Master's (Comprehensive) Colleges and Universities, I & II; Baccalaureate Colleges-Liberal Arts, Baccalaureate Colleges-General, Baccalaureate-Associate's College; Associate's Colleges; Specialized Institutions such as theological seminars, medical schools, health- profession schools; schools of engineering and technology; schools of business and management; schools of art, music and design; schools of law; teachers colleges; Tribal colleges and universities.

The reclassification has set off some controversies. Since 1994, the number of colleges and universities has increased from 3,600 to 3,856. Many school's categories have been changed, with the alteration seen as a misunderstanding or an appreciation, depending upon points-of-view. Supporters say that the new emphasis on teaching and degrees will strike a blow at those who simply seek to rank schools for their own gains.
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COLLEGE BOUND's Editor: R. Craig Sautter, DePaul University; Associate Editors: Connie Amon, Jennifer C. Patterson; Assistant Editor: Larry
Busking; Circulation: Irma Gonzalez-Hider; Illustration: Louis Coronel; Board of Advisors: Claire D. Friedlander, Bedford (NY) Central School
District; Howard Greene, coauthor, Scaling the Ivy Wall in the '90s; Terence Giffin, Choate-Rosemary Hall; Dr. Frank Leana, author, Getting Into
College; Virginia Vogel, Educational Guidance Services; M. Fredric Volkmann, Washington University.

In This Issue

Feature Article
Early Decision 2000

THE COUNSELOR'S
CORNER
Advice for Seniors from a Recent Grad

CYBER-U.
The Laptop State
Go Drexel, Go Wireless
Barry's High Tech Grants
Dorm Lectures
Princeton Review Online
Applications Online Only
E-Business

Other Articles
Carnegie Classification 2000