Princeton to end early admission

President Tilghman said this afternoon that the University will end its early admission program next year. The announcement comes only days after rival Harvard shocked the world of elite admissions when it said it would abandon its early admission program.

"We are making this change because we believe it is the right thing to do," Tilghman said in a statement. "The ultimate test of any admission process for Princeton is whether it is fair and equitable to all our applicants and whether it allows us to enroll the strongest possible class.

"We believe that a single admission process will encourage an even broader pool of excellent students to apply to Princeton, knowing that they will be considered at the same time and on the same terms as all other applicants."

Last week, Dean of Admission Janet Rapelye declined to indicate one way or another what Princeton would do, but said that "the choices are expanded for us now, because one of our chief competitors has made quite a bold statement."

"It allows for an opportunity that perhaps wasn't there before," she said. "I literally can't predict what we're going to do, or maybe we won't do anything. We don't have a plan in place."

Last week, Tilghman, who has defended the University's early decision program in the past, said she was "surprised by Harvard's decision."

But George Schnetzer '60, chair of the Alumni Schools Committee, who is familiar with the president's thinking on the issue and has criticized the University's early admissions policy in the past, told The Daily Princetonian his "sense is that [Tilghman] is certainly sympathetic to considering disbanding the policy."

Harvard's bold move "may make it possible" for other schools to take a leap previously thought disastrous to their competitive advantage in the admissions process, Schnetzer said. "Harvard being the 'first among equals,' I think everyone was afraid that if they didn't keep their early policies intact, Harvard would steal a lot of students."

In recent years, about 50 percent of applicants to the University have been admitted early. And those students apparently face an easier road to acceptance: 26.8 percent of early applicants were accepted last year compared to just 7.8 percent for regular decision applicants.

In an interview last week, Rapelye said, "I feel a particular responsibility to do the right thing, not only for the competitive advantage — to find what's the next right move for Princeton but also for higher education. ... If we were to make any changes, it would only be to think about the overall goal of making this as fair a process as possible."