Early Admissions

A new report found that many students who apply early for college end up regretting their college choice. “Many young people are being pressured to making college choices before they are developmentally ready,” Michigan State University sociologist Barbara Schneider, author of the report, told USA Today.

Schneider’s case “has yet to be made empirically,” but her research suggests that “students who make these choices very early, without having opportunities to explore other options, (in their 20s) report some dissatisfaction with their college choices and lives.”

David Hawkins, of the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), told USA Today that this finding supports some members’ concerns that students are being rushed to make college decisions. A 2005 NACAC survey found 25 percent of responding colleges accept some applicants before they start their senior year. Some recruiters wave application fees or offer priority housing to students who apply as juniors.

NACAC now bars colleges from admitting students until after they get a junior year transcript. Harvard, Stanford and other selective schools have ended binding early admissions policies.