Almost everyone realizes that the system is undemocratic and favors the wealthy and connected, but none of the stakeholders are willing to disarm unilaterally. From 1996 to 2000, the number of high school sophomores taking the SAT rose by 27.9 percent. Christopher Hooker-Haring, dean of admissions at Muhlenberg College, changed his marketing strategy after learning that ambitious students were compiling college lists in 10th grade. Soon, the little tykes will be taught to spell Harvard in nursery school. The obsession with early decision was bound to follow.
Students can relax, perhaps for the first time in high school.
And colleges are assured of a guaranteed and generally enthusiastic core of incoming freshmen. But admissions officers concede that the growth in early-decision acceptances inherently favors advantaged students whose families and school cultures emphasize college prep. And with 55.8 percent of Muhlenberg's class this year accepted early, and 43.6 percent of Penn's, there simply are fewer slots remaining for the students who may not have the fortitude or the wherewithal to settle on one place by October of senior year. Some colleges are taking baby steps to tamp down the phenomenon. Muhlenberg pushed back its early-decision deadline to Jan. 15 to lessen the pressure.