Brown abandons non-binding early action

Starting with the class of 2006, Brown University's early action will be replaced by early decision, leaving Harvard as the only Ivy League school to offer early action admission. Early action is non-binding, which means applicants are not obligated to attend if admitted. The early decision option is a binding agreement, and students may only apply early decision to one school. According to Brown spokesman Mark Nickel, the change was prompted by an increasing number of early applicants who were not all necessarily considering Brown as their first choice. "[The early action application process] became less of a step that a student would take if Brown was the place for them," Nickel said. "It was a testing of the waters for students." Applicants who apply by November 1 find out if they have been accepted, rejected or waitlisted by mid-December. In return, students who receive an offer of admission must accept it by January 1. Under early action, however, students still find out if they have been accepted by early December, but have until May 1 to respond, allowing them to weigh Brown against other schools. "It used to be that students who applied early action could not apply early action anywhere else," Nickels said. "That had the effect of attracting students who were qualified. "The university was able to develop a good pool of very attractive and very dedicated applicants," he added. But two years ago, after the National Association of College Admissions Counseling ruled that early action must be non-binding, applications to Brown skyrocketed. "In two years, the number [of applicants] rose by about 65 percent, being that early action was non-binding," Nickel said. "It was clear that a lot of the materials Brown was reviewing and analyzing were from people who didn't have any particular commitment to Brown." "By going to early decision, this returns more towards our original rationale [about admissions]," he said. Now that Brown has made the switch, Harvard is the only remaining Ivy to offer applicants the choice of early action. It appears that Harvard has no intention of changing its early action policy, opting not to rush high school students into making a premature decision about college. But Brown is not worried about the effects this decision will have on their applicant pool. "People in admissions say it will decrease the size of the pool, but there's never been a problem with attracting a very talented pool and that will continue," Nickels said. Over the past several years, most Ivies have seen a consistent rise in the number of early applicants over the past few years. Penn and Brown are both schools to see such a rise in recent years.

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