Early admit rates higher than peers

Although debate and controversy have recently plagued the fate of early decision programs, Penn filled nearly half of the Class of 2007 early this fall. The University has already accepted 47 percent of its incoming class. Although that number is down from last year's 49 percent, it is still higher than many of Penn's peer institutions. "We accept a large percentage of the class early because it serves us very well in the quality of the entering class, in terms of test scores and performance in class," Dean of Admissions Lee Stetson said. "We are now seeing the most qualified students being admitted early decision," he added. "They already say they want Penn, so why not take them?" However, according to Stetson, Penn still gives 70 percent of its offers of admission to regular decision applicants. Both Cornell University and Dartmouth College filled 37 percent of next year's freshman classes with early decision applicants, the lowest percentages among the Ivies. "We like to keep it down around 35 to 37 percent," Dartmouth Dean of Admissions Karl Furstenberg told The Dartmouth last week. Cornell saw a three percent increase this year in early applications and had an acceptance rate of about 41 percent, according to an admissions representative. Yale University filled 43 percent of its entering class with early decision applicants. It plans to switch to a non-binding early action program next fall. In its last year under a binding program, Yale's early acceptance rate was about 21 percent. Yale President Richard Levin told the Yale Daily News that the university may accept slightly more students next year under the non-binding plan due to concerns about yield. Columbia University has also already accepted 43 percent of its Class of 2007, marking a significant decrease from last year's 49 percent, according to an admissions office representative. Columbia accepted about 28 percent of early applicants this year. Harvard University is currently the only Ivy League school that uses a non-binding early action program. Harvard saw a 24 percent increase in early applications this fall and accepted about 15 percent, a decrease of about 5 percent from last year's acceptance rate, The Harvard Crimson reported. Since Harvard's program is non-binding, the percentage of the class filled by early applicants cannot yet be determined, as accepted students can still choose to attend other schools. This was the first year that national guidelines allowed students to apply both early action to Harvard and early decision to another school with a binding program. Harvard enrolls an entering class of 1,650 and has already accepted 1,150 students early. Last year, about 80 percent of all students admitted to Harvard matriculated, but the yield is expected to go down under the new early action rules. Princeton University has declined to release admissions data until the regular application process is over. Last year, Princeton filled 45 percent of its entering class through early decision. Admissions officials at Brown University could not be reached for comment. Unlike the other Ivy League schools, Brown saw a decrease in its early application numbers this fall. It recently switched from a non-binding to a binding early decision program. Among the debate that has surrounded early decision programs over the last year, one issue that is often discussed is financial aid. Binding early decision programs allow students to apply to only one school so they are unable to compare financial aid packages as they would during regular decision. Penn officials have said they have no plans to change the University's early decision policy, and Stetson noted that the program is not detrimental to students applying for financial aid. "Financial aid has been very responsive to the early applicant group," Stetson said. "We still find that we enroll almost all of the early decision students with strong financial aid packages." Penn is also striving to encourage more minority students to apply early, Stetson said, adding that "we save space for minority students, since they tend to apply regular decision."