Early decision disadvantages all students

My high school in mid-December's early decision season is like a war zone. Espionage is undertaken to find out who has gotten in where. Tactical forces are sent to comfort the grieving deferred and rejected. The postman is followed as if he were an enemy under surveillance. One might have thought I'd have remembered this phenomenon from my four years as a prisoner of the admissions war conducted at Millburn High School, but this past December, a cool college kid returning from Princeton, I decided to pay a visit to my old teachers and friends despite the risks of combat.

In truth, I had forgotten about the intensity of the early decision wars. In my first months at Princeton, my friends and I did not sit around comparing admissions data. We were too fascinated with each other and the vast resources around us to think back to the days when we too awaited letters emblazoned with the word "Yes!" But as I settled in to college life, the students at my high school continued to battle for spots at the nation's most selective universities. In December, the losers of that battle were obvious, from the boy who sported a "Yale Sucks" tee shirt to the girl who told me that Princeton had ruined her life by not accepting her. Just as newspaper columnists and admissions officers across the country were debating the merits of early decision programs, these kids had come to realize the truth. Early decision is bad for students.

The problems of early decision have become painfully obvious. Students play strategic games, applying to multiple early action schools like Harvard and Georgetown to ensure themselves spots or sending an application to a reach school they may not be sure they want to attend. Others have early decision horror stories to tell, like a friend who was deferred from an Ivy League school in December, waitlisted in April, and never taken off the list, let alone admitted. With schools becoming more and more selective each year, early decision maneuverings have forced students to be increasingly competitive and savvy. No one can blame them for playing the game. After all, they are only following the rules handed down to them by guidance counselors and admissions officers.

The problems of early decision, however, extend far beyond high school students' stress. Many don't have access to high priced college counselors or experienced guidance staff. They may not be aware of the ins and outs of the admissions' game and thus may not be prepared to apply in November. In addition, students seeking financial aid are faced with two unattractive choices. Either they can apply early, losing the chance to compare aid packages, or they can wait until the spring, risking their chances in a broader candidate pool. This is particularly unfair to those students who need to seek financial aid. In an age when Princeton has instituted an admirable grant program, keeping an early decision policy in place seems hypocritical.

While it is easy to make the argument that early decision disadvantages students who don't attend elite prep schools or upper class public high schools, the reality is that early decision disadvantages all students. High school seniors change a great deal between November and April. They grow up, develop new interests, and become more independent. One friend of mine applied early to Yale and was crushed when he was deferred. By April, he knew that Yale was not the right place for him. He chose to attend Brown, a very different school, and is now one of the happiest college freshmen I know. The sadder stories are those of people who were accepted early, and bound, to a school that turned out to be wrong for them. There is simply no reason to ask students to commit to one school almost a full year before they will matriculate, particularly at a time in their lives when nearly everything is in flux.

People will tell you there are advantages to early decision. It allows colleges to divide up their admissions workload and increase their yield rates. Accepted students can relax once accepted in December. I applied early to Princeton and was lucky enough to be accepted so I know how nice a restful senior year can be. But I do not think that hours spent watching videos and exploring suburban New Jersey in my car — or Princeton's yield percentage column in U.S. News & World Report — are too much to trade for a less stressful, more fair admissions system. All the members of the Ivy League should band together and discuss eliminating early decision. It is only by working together and evaluating their policies' impact on high school students that colleges like Princeton can ever bring peace to the battleground of college admissions. Katherine Reilly is from Short Hills, NJ. She can be reached at kcreilly@princeton.edu.