Concerns about the decisions of Harvard and Princeton universities to discontinue their respective early-admissions policies extend beyond the academic world - the recent changes have raised questions on the athletic scene as well.
The Ivy League is already at a recruiting disadvantage without scholarships and letters of intent. Now, the elimination of early decision - which, in a way, made up for these hurdles by getting athletes to commit earlier in the process - may put Harvard and Princeton in an even deeper hole.
Penn athletic director Steve Bilsky is quick to extoll the values of his own school's early admission process with respect to athletic recruitment.
The trend for recruiting "continues to move earlier and earlier," Bilsky said. "For Penn to be able to be responsive through an early-decision process allows us to be more competitive with schools outside the Ivies as well."
At Harvard, the athletic department was not consulted before the decision was made. In fact, they were not even aware it was in the works.
Spokesman Chuck Sullivan said the announcement to discontinue early admission came as a surprise to his staff.
"Normally, when something different is going to happen, we have a sense of when it's coming," Sullivan said.
When the coaches were brought into the loop at a meeting held the day after the decision was announced, they had a chance to air their concerns.
Many had questions about how the recruiting process would now work and about if there were going to be any drastic changes.
Sullivan assured them that the actual process of recruiting won't change, but said the dynamic will be slightly different.
Princeton is still sorting out the implications of the decision.
"It's way too soon to see the long-range effects of this," a Princeton athletics spokesman said. "It's obviously something the university takes very seriously and will be resolved in due time."
The announcements from Harvard and Princeton create an imbalance within the Ivy League and raise questions as to how the programs will be able to draw recruits, many of whom have an interest in several Ivies.
Will Penn and the other Ivy League schools keeping early-decision programs have an edge over Harvard and Princeton?
Or, will the announcement of the change instead lend an advantage to the Crimson and the Tigers?
Sullivan doesn't believe the recent events will affect the interest of recruits in his school's programs.
"Our early action was non-binding anyway," Sullivan said. "Students admitted to Harvard usually choose to attend."
Bilsky, as well as the other Penn administrators, stand by the University's early-decision policy, which is binding.
"We have found early decision to be a great asset for athletic recruiting in that, similar to the overall Penn applicant pool, it's always better to have student-athletes on our teams who chose Penn as their first choice," Bilsky said.
All three administrators agreed, though, that it's too early to know exactly how this issue will play out in Ivy League recruiting.
However, Sullivan did forecast one potential implication of the change.
"I think there will be more emphasis on likely letters; they might be sent out earlier than previously," Sullivan said, in reference to the Ivy League's non-binding substitute for the more commonly used letters of intent. "I think it will more than compensate for early decision," Sullivan said.
Sullivan's optimism aside, it is difficult to forcast at this point whether Harvard's and Princeton's recruiting efforts will be compromised by the respective universities' decisions.
Athletic recruits starting with the high school class of 2008 will need to consider these recent events, and it might prove to add a new twist in the already complex recruiting process.
