Record numbers of students applied early this year, desperate to beat the odds and get into an elite school. And next year, the pressures will only grow. Savvy students are already adjusting to what they see as a trend. At the Kaplan Educational Centers (owned by NEWSWEEK’S parent company, The Washington Post Company), the number of sophomores signing up for an SAT preparation course jumped 50 percent in 1995 over 1994. “For guidance counselors next year, it will be hard to persuade parents and students that there’s any other way to go except [applying] early,” says Jane Reynolds, dean of admission at Amherst. “That can create a kind of chaos.” One concern: “It’s still the unusually mature 17-year-old who is ready to make an early-decision commitment in October,” says Nancy Meislahn, Cornell’s undergraduate-admissions director.

Only 15 percent of all schools offer the early-admissions option, but virtually all of the most selective schools do. Some, such as Harvard and Brown, offer “early action”–students are accepted in Decemberck but can wait until May 1 to respond. This year Yale and Princeton changed their early-action programs to early-decision, which requires an ironclad commitment from students that if admitted they will come. Stanford had no early program in the past, but this year offered a binding early-admission plan. “We found that we were losing exceptional students to institutions that had early programs,” says James Montoya, dean of undergraduate admissions at Stanford. Others see a more cynical reason. “More places in a freshman class that are slated away early with good kids . . . allows colleges to project very nice figures to the world in how selective they’ve become,” says Carl Bewig, director of college counseling at Andover in Massachusetts. Also at play here is a school’s “yield”–the number of students admitted who actually enroll. By accepting kids early–most of whom are guaranteed to attend–an admissions office guarantees a healthy yield.

The long-term implications of this trend may be troublesome. Early-admissions applicants tend to need less financial aid. “Some would argue that the early programs are for the wealthy. For kids who really need to compare and weigh, for whom affordability is as important as admissibiliy in the process, the early programs are not an alternative,” says Bewig at Andover. Will that mean schools can then save their spring slots for the needy (another reason for affluent students not to wait)? Or will they be tempted to bulk up early with the privileged?

Most colleges still admit more than half the students who apply. But at the nation’s most selective schools, admission is getting more difficult. Applications are up, and so are early admissions. A sample of this year’s results:

Chart Key: A Amherst College B Brown University C Calif. Institute of Technology D Columbia University E Cornell University[+] F Duke University G Harvard University H Johns Hopkins University I Mass. Institute of Technology J Northwestern University K Princeton University L Rice University M Smith College N Stanford University O Swarthmore College P University of Chicago Q University of Pennsylvania R Wellesley College S Williams College T Yale University 1 Tuition, room, board, fees 2 Applications received 3 Projected class size 4 Early acceptances sent out 5 Percentage of class accepted early 6 Acceptances sent out in April 7 Wait list 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 A 27,815 4,681 423 154 36.4 732 703 B 28,818 15,009 1,390 635* 45.7 2,205 600-700 C 23,478 1,993 215 85 39.5 433 100 D 28,775 10,250 955 299 31.3 1,846 500 E 27,845 21,004 3,000 788 26.3 6,086 1,500 F 27,799 13,567 1,615 510 31.6 3,468 n/a G 28,896 18,190 1,615 978* 60.6 1,007 n/a H 28,440 8,503 915 297 33.4 3,120 n/a I 28,350 8,023 1,080 512* 47.4 1,382 400-500 J 24,149 15,625 1,850 334 18.1 5,196 300 K 28,325 14,868 1,130 556 49.2 1,124 n/a L 19,200 7,000 675 120 17.8 1,409 n/a M 27,458 3,131 625 146 23.4 1,455 440 N 27,827 16,630 1,600 568 35.5 2,580 n/a O 28,230 4,008 365 110 30.1 1,096 200-250 P 28,338 5,464 950 225* 23.7 2,438 558 Q 28,630 15,858 2,350 746 31.7 3,979 400 R 26,970 3,310 575 80 13.9 1,323 350 S 28,050 5,061 530 193 36.4 1,036 400-600 T 28,880 12,952 1,335 415 31.1 1,957 500 ..MR.-

  • Nonbinding early acceptance. [+] Cornell has three private and four state-supported colleges. The tuition figure is for private colleges; the admissions figures lump them together.