You may have been puzzled by the title of this blog post, as Early Decision (ED) is considered a binding commitment. This means that if you apply to a college ED and are admitted, you agree to attend. However, as I explained in a blog post I wrote a few years ago, a student can get out of an ED agreement if the college does not offer enough financial aid to meet their family’s needs.
Citing a New York Times article, I wrote, “backing out of an ED agreement should not affect how a college evaluates applicants from your high school in the future (despite what you may have heard to the contrary).” But while colleges should not penalize a school because of an individual student’s decision, apparently, sometimes they do.
A recent New York Times article described how a student at Colorado Academy (CA), a private high school in Denver, declined an ED acceptance from Tulane last year. In response, the university imposed a one-year ban preventing students at CA from applying Early Decision. Tulane imposed such bans on three other high schools, which the university did not name.
The article explained that ED is not legally binding, and students “can opt out under certain conditions, most commonly because of financial aid concerns. Other reasons may include family emergencies or significant personal changes.” However, the reporter did not provide any information as to why the student at CA backed out of the ED agreement, writing only that CA “would not confirm the specifics of what had happened.” Without that context, it’s difficult to evaluate Tulane’s response. Yet, I fail to see how punishing all of the students at a school because of a single student’s actions is justifiable or fair.
When students apply Early Decision to a college on the Common Application, the student, their parent/guardian, and their school counselor all have to sign an ED agreement. The agreement says, “If the student is accepted under an Early Decision plan, the student must promptly withdraw the applications submitted to other colleges and universities and make no additional applications to any other university in any country. If the student is an Early Decision candidate and is seeking financial aid, the student need not withdraw other applications until the student has received notification about financial aid from the admitting Early Decision institution.”
When I have a student who’s considering applying somewhere ED, I make sure they understand that it’s a binding commitment. I advise them not to apply ED unless they’re absolutely certain the college is their first choice, and I explain to them and their parents that applying ED means they won’t be able to compare financial aid and scholarship offers from other colleges.
I know two of the college counselors at Colorado Academy, and I’m confident that they have similar conversations with students and families. (Indeed, a quote from the school that was included in the NYT article indicated as much.) But ultimately, people make their own decisions, and I don’t think others should be held accountable or punished as a result.
Tulane told the New York Times, “A last-minute withdrawal without explanation unfairly impacts other applicants who may have missed opportunities due to the limited number of early-decision offers a university can make.” But there is no limit on how many applicants a college can accept through Early Decision, and in fact, according to Inside Higher Ed, “in recent years, [Tulane has] admitted more than 60 percent of its freshman class using early decision.” Additionally, if a few of Tulane’s ED admits back out, the university can simply accept more students from Early Action, ED II, and Regular Decision.
Tulane’s actions are just one example of why I think colleges should eliminate ED altogether. But that’s another blog post for another time.
