At Lake Forest High School, many seniors already know where they are going to college by December. These early commitments are often coming from the popular application route called “early decision.”
Early decision, also known as “ED,” is a binding application option. This means that if you are accepted to said university, you will attend said university. There are notable positive and negative implications that come with choosing this path for college.
First, choosing this decision in an application is not only a commitment for you, but is a legal contract—though this threat of commitment is not completely genuine.
According to Daniel Currell, former Deputy and Senior Advisor in the U.S. Department of Education, it is not clear that an early decision contract would even hold up in court.
“If colleges claim these contracts are binding when they’re really not, that’s a substantial misrepresentation. In any case, the implied threat is terrifying,” Currell wrote in a New York Times op-ed.
As strong as this legal threat is, it’s not enough for some schools. To add pressure, Tulane has responded to some accepted students who withdrew from their ED agreement by blacklisting the students’ high schools and preventing the next graduating class from applying early. These broad consequences contrived from a small amount of withdrawals are being seen at universities around the country.
Another highly concerning issue with early decision is that you are agreeing to attend said school without knowing your financial package. This puts certain students in a difficult situation—making them far less likely to choose this option.
While many seniors have utilized ED, others recognize why it may not be a viable path. Senior Maggie Jarvinen shared why ED was not the right choice for her.
“Although I considered ED for a school, I decided that it wouldn’t be worth it because every school has their own positives and negatives,” said Jarvinen. “With it being binding, you aren’t guaranteed any financial aid or scholarships. I’d rather be able to weigh out all my options up until decision day to make sure I found the right fit for me.”
As Currell put it, early decision is the “perfect tool for maximizing revenues at schools positioned as luxury products, with price tags to match.”
Though as early decision generates consequences for some, it can benefit other applicants by making them more likely to be accepted. Mrs. Miles, College Counselor at LFHS, explained more about how ED can benefit students.
“Applying ED to some colleges can increase your chances of being accepted by a statistically significant amount and can be helpful for students,” said Miles. “It is important for students to research what percentage of the last incoming class came from the ED pool of applicants so that they can make an informed decision about whether or not it is an option that they want to pursue.”
ED provides the universities themselves with a way to better predict the size of the incoming class. This decision option simultaneously raises the chance of a student being accepted, and attending the school. This can be extremely beneficial for the student and the university—the university knowing the student will attend if they are accepted.
“An important thing in understanding Early Decision is that it is highly difficult for colleges to predict their yield rate. ED provides a one to one yield rate for the college: one admitted decision to one accepted offer and one bed in the dorm,” Miles said.
Early decision has many moving pieces—some positive and some problematic. This process can be a benefit for students who know exactly what they want, but locks other students into one place without getting to flesh out all their options before leaving high school. In any case, the decision is one to be made with thought and consideration for all of the factors involved.
