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Many high school seniors try to ease the uncertainty of applying to schools by applying early admission.  What is early admission, you might be wondering?  Early admission binds both the student and the college into admittance months earlier than the regular admission deadline is due.  Even in this touch-and-go economy, early admittance seems to be increasing, not decreasing.  Here is a list of several schools which have published their early admittance increases, thanks to The New York Times.

Duke: 31% increase

Northwestern: 11% increase

Cornell: 4% increase

Dartmouth: 3% increase

Occidental: 40% increase (Note: Occidental has a very small program, not totaling over 157 applicants this year.)

The Times goes onto say that Wesleyan, Emory, Pomona and Grinnell were colleges that saw no increase or decrease, but were about even with their early admittance percentages compared to last year.

Some colleges have a non-binding early admittance program, like Stanford, where you have the choice of whether you want to attend the school or not when applying early.  Stanford saw its early admittance rate go up by about 4% this year.  Yale, on the other hand, with a program very similar to Stanford’s, saw its applications drop 5%, along with Amherst, Swarthmore and Hamilton.

Is it good to know your statistics of early admittance before applying to schools?  The Times brings up this important question, ultimately saying “yes” – that even though the reality can be somewhat grim in terms of the freshmen seats being given away to early admittance applicants, it’s still important to be aware of your changes of getting in.  For example, Cornell offered binding acceptances to 1,167 applicants, which totals to about 40% of its freshmen class.  This is a good percentage to know when waiting for those acceptance or rejection letters to come in.

However, early admittance students should be careful when applying to schools with binding programs.  Counselors often discourage early admittance because it decreases your chances of obtaining stellar financial aid in the bargaining process.  Should you decide to apply early with binding or non-binding agreements to colleges and universities, make sure the agreement is the right one for you.

For any college admissions help, consult with our experts at Manhattan Review.

Tags: admission application, admission requirements, admissions office, College Admissions, college application, college applications, early admission, undergraduate admission, undergraduate studies