by: Atharava Pandey

Sports Editor

College admissions season is one of the most stressful times for many high school students. It can feel as if the weight of the world rests on their shoulders as students navigate the critical junction in their lives. Searching for relief from this constant pressure, students are drawn to anything that promises certainty. Colleges exploit this fear with the early decision program, a binding program that offers an early response but requires the student to attend if accepted. While this option may seem harmless at first glance, it conceals an pernicious injustice. Colleges should eliminate the early decision process because it provides an unfair advantage to wealthy students and pressures teenagers into making rushed decisions. 

Early decision heavily favors wealthy students. Many students apply to numerous colleges in order to explore their best choices for financial aid. This access to options helps them leverage their application to make the best deal for their financial future. However, applying early runs the risk of committing to a university that might charge the student 90,000 dollars a year in tuition. Although colleges say they will let the student out of the agreement if financial aid does not come through, according to Mark Salisbury, an expert in financial aid, “The school gets to decide what qualifies as too high.” Because early decision entails so much financial uncertainty, well-off students are significantly more likely to benefit from its higher chances of acceptance. 

Early decision also pressures teenagers into making hurried decisions about their future. Because of the early decision process, teenagers set aside every other college they are considering in order to invest all their resources into one school. According to Eryn Schoenebeck at Boston University, “I’m only 17. At the end of the day, I’m still a kid. I get why schools do early decision. But asking a 17-year-old to sign an agreement to pay $90,000 a year is a really, really big ask.” Making students commit to such a momentous decision at such a vulnerable time is unjust and exploitative. Colleges are simply trying to claim high-quality students as soon as possible to leech off their success and help their own reputation in the market. 

Unfortunately, more schools than ever have started to offer early decision. The University of Michigan offered early decision for the first time this year, as did the University of Virginia. Yet applicants should be allowed to explore their options and pick the school that best matches their future plans, not just the first school that accepts them. Eradicating early decision programs would benefit students and improve the prospects of the country’s youth. 

(Source: Inside Higher Ed, NYT)