By Michael Travis
News Editor
The geeks are in these days.
Think back to the days of high school. Remember the pocket-protector wearing kid with big glasses who got straight As, who knew exactly where he wanted to go to college since age 10.
Although none of the other kids knew it then, he was way ahead of the game.
Those are the type of students today’s colleges are looking for. Children that plan out their lives years ahead of time and know exactly what they think they will want to do. According to the National Association for College Admission Counseling, children should begin planning their careers as early as middle school.
A trend in college admission has recently developed into its own permanent institution. Known as “early admission,” “early decision” or “early action,” it is a process where a high school student, most often a senior, applies to a chosen institution early with hopes that it may give them an “edge” on acceptance.
Pepperdine is no exception. The university has its own hybrid form of early acceptance in which a student may send in a non-binding application, and if they are accepted, they will still have other options.
“Our form of early action doesn’t force students to make an immediate decision on where they want to attend college,” Seaver Director of Admissions Mic-hael Truschke said. “It allows them to get all of their options out on the table.”
Whatever it may be called, colleges have promoted the idea that sending in an application early gives students a greater chance of getting in.
Last year, Princeton accepted 49 percent of its incoming freshman class through early acceptance programs, and the University of Pennsylvania took 40 percent from similar programs.
A team of researchers from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government compared statistics from 14 top-ranked (but unnamed) colleges and proved that early application does actually have an advantage at most schools. The study showed that the average affect upon admission was equivalent to adding100 points to a student’s SAT I scores.
The result: colleges are flooded with early applications. A perception has developed among college hopefuls that the only way to get in is to apply early.
Brown University in Providence, R.I., received 5,521 early applications, and less than 100 were admitted to the college. The rest were denied.
Almost half of Pepperdine’s incoming freshman classes are admitted through the early action program. Last year, 722 students were admitted in the fall semester, and about 350 of those were early applicants.
According to Truschke, roughly 25 percent of the total applications received for a given year are in the form of early applications. About 25 percent of these early applicants are accepted.
Since a large number of colleges are accepting up to half of their incoming freshman classes early, the regular round of admission is getting increasingly competitive.
When a student goes for an “early admission” program, they are essentially applying to a university before everyone else, and agree not to apply to any other early admission colleges while their application is processed.
The student will then go on a waiting list and possibly be admitted the following semester.
An increasing number of students are finding themselves in this predicament as the early admissions process becomes more competitive.
Another problem with this type of admission is that a student misses the opportunity to compare financial aid packages at different universities. Estimates are given, but nothing is promised and .
Every college hopeful has a “list” of schools that they’d like to go to. However, this list is usually decided by reading brochures and looking at websites. Early decision rushes students into picking a college than may not be suited for them.
These students also have less time to take their battery of standardized tests like the SAT or ACT because they must have scores in earlier than those who apply at the regular time.
Some colleges offer another option, known as “early action” in which a student may apply and be accepted, but has the option to either accept or reject the offer. It is this type of early application program that Pepperdine offers.
At Pepperdine, if a student is not accepted or does not respond by May 1 in this round, then they are automatically deferred to the regular round of admissions.
“I feel that early action is the best way for a student to find out what options they have available to them,” Truschke said. “It doesn’t force them to make a decision too early.”
However, this type of application is quickly growing extinct. High school students that aren’t sure where they want to go will sometimes send out five or even 10 applications to different universities, choosing to decide “when I see where I get in.” This is evident by the large number of early admissions that are declined, according to the NACAC.
The admissions offices of these universities are then flooded with these “bunk” applications, which slows down the process considerably.
Early action isn’t for everyone. “Legacies,” and well-to-do students have the greatest advantage in this process, that might not have a “hook.” One of the reasons early action was invented was to draw students into their parents’ colleges, and favors them even though they might not be the best-qualified candidates.
“Students who are not a priority to recruiters at a given college stand to gain the most from applying early,” said Christopher Avery, a coauthor of the Harvard study.
However, Pepperdine has a different policy.
“That’s not our strategy,” Truschke said. “[In this round] We are looking for students that are at the top of their classes, the cream of the crop, and will be a good fit for the university.”
February 07, 2002