Harvard Loosens Early Action Admission Policy

Candidates for early action at Harvard can now apply early action at other schools, admissions officials announced earlier this month.

Director of Admissions Marlyn McGrath Lewis '70-73 said the change will make Harvard a more attractive choice for early applicants.

"I think its going to have very little impact, but it will makes people's lives simpler," Lewis said. "It puts the burden of the restrictions on the early decision colleges. I think it's the right thing to do."

Both Lewis and Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid William R. Fitzsimmons '67 said the modification in the policy will create a friendlier admissions process.

"A number of students and parents felt that Harvard was being un-welcoming and exclusive," Fitzsimmons said. "We want people to understand that we are accessible and that we are welcoming."

Lewis said she feels that it is important to give students as much time as they need before making their decision.

"As we have thought over the years, we have become increasingly unhappy with the constraint of students to apply only under [Harvard's] early action program," she said. "We think its always better to have the benefit of the extra time to decide."

Harvard's decision to decrease the level of commitment it asks of early applicants goes against the tide of admissions policies at most elite colleges, which have increasingly asked that early applicants show a firm intention to matriculate if accepted.

In recent years, all Ivy League schools, except for Harvard and Brown, have switched to binding early decision programs. Under early decision, applicants may only apply to only one school early, and accepted students are required to enroll.

But admissions officials from schools with early decision policies said that their schools attract applicants who are even more enthusiastic about attending.

"To my knowledge there has been no talk of change in our policy," said Thomas Masse, a Yale admissions officer. "Last year our yield was the highest in our history, and we don't expect that to change."

Maria Laskaris, a Dartmouth admissions officer, said that Dartmouth is also confident in its policy.

"Our program makes sense," she said. "We are looking for students who are ready to make a commitment. [Our program] is for students who are clear about where they want to go."

Fitzsimmons stressed that the decision was not a monumental one.

"There are many people who won't receive [the new policy] as news," he said. "In the end I think we will end up with the same class as if we hadn't changed it.