Harvard University has let its early action applicants know whether they’ve been accepted but has decided to break with school tradition by not releasing admissions data on decision day.
In the past, Harvard released information on applicants and admitted students following the mid-December results of its Restrictive Early Action program, a non-binding option that generally prohibits students from applying early to other schools.
However, the university will now wait until a “October/November timeframe” to announce acceptance results, including the outcomes of the regular decision application cycle that will conclude in the spring of next year.
“Moving to a single, annual admissions data release each fall will provide the most complete view of the newly enrolled class, reducing confusion and offering a predictable timeline,” the university notes on its website.
“This approach will enable prospective students to have all the information they need to consider Harvard as a possible college choice–not simply partial information they may receive while the application cycle is still in progress,” the website explains.
A dramatic change in policy
According to the student-run The Harvard Crimson newspaper, withholding early admissions data marks a dramatic shift in university policy.
“The decision to wait until the fall for one centralized data release marked a shift away from nearly 70 years of precedent of sharing data about the admitted class on decision days,” the newspaper noted in an article.
Last year, Harvard released its early action acceptance rate—which had increased by more than one percentage point from the year before—shortly after early applicants were notified.
There are other highly-ranked schools that also refrain from releasing early acceptance data until later in the admissions cycle. Cornell University began withholding early acceptance data with the Class of 2024, saying the reason for the change was to avoid discouraging qualified applicants by focusing on narrow acceptance rates.
In the past, Cornell released early decision acceptance rates shortly after students who had applied early were notified of their status.
Stanford University stopped releasing this data in 2018, similarly citing increased competition as the reason. “This move is intended as a small step in reducing the outsized emphasis placed on the admission rates at U.S. colleges and universities,” the school had announced at the time.
Applying early an increasingly popular option
Once considered an option for only the most prepared students, early admissions applications have become a more mainstream strategy as students aim to better their odds at top-ranked schools and selective colleges seek to secure enrollments.
As competition for college admission intensifies, a rising number of colleges and universities are filling more than 50% of their incoming classes through early decision or early action. This large intake has come under some scrutiny as applying early decision—which is binding—usually precludes the ability to compare financial aid packages so students applying early tend to be wealthier.
Some schools, such as Cornell, are making a concerted effort to reduce the number of students accepted via the early decision track to try and increase equity in the admissions process.
Other schools show some decline in the percentage of their freshman class accepted early. For example, Barnard College admitted 56% of its Class of 2028 via early decision, down from 60% for the Class of 2027 and 61% the Class of 2026.