The Early Admissions Game: Joining the Elite, with a New Chapter

by Christopher M. Avery, Andrew Fairbanks, Richard J. Zeckhauser

Book Overview

Each year, hundreds of thousands of high school seniors compete in a game they'll play only once, whose rules they do not fully understand, yet whose consequences are enormous. The game is college admissions, and applying early to an elite school is one way to win. But the early admissions process is enigmatic and flawed. It can easily lead students toward hasty or misinformed decisions.

This book--based on the careful examination of more...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0674016203
• ISBN13: 9780674016200
• Release Date: December 2004
• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

READ IT... you'll be more confident!

Ok... I'm a junior studying at an American School in Mexico who considers to apply either to Princeton or to UPenn, ED, next year. This book reveals the truth about early admissions. If you are a top student considering an ivy league, but you fall in the middle of the applicant pool... APPLY EARLY somewhere; however, if you are concerned with financial aid, then apply Early Action, but apply early! Just to give you an idea... If you have 1400 in the old SAT (equivalent to 2100 in the new one) and you apply to Columbia under the regular process, your chances of being admitted are 9%; on the other side, if you apply ED your chances increase to 64.4%... a 55.4% increase!!!!!! It sounds unbelievable but it's true! there is much more in-depth study like this about admissions! IT'S A MUST!

The best evidence that early admission boosts acceptance.

This is an excellent book that provides the best evidence that Early Admission programs boost your chance of admission. The authors have conducted world-class research on this esoteric subject. They support any of their hypotheses with a lot of data, graphs, tables, and references. In other words, they don't make anything up. And, they uncover a whole lot of stuff nobody else did. Despite the somewhat quantitative and dry nature of this book, it is very easy to read given the very lively writing style of the authors. This book fits a very unique niche within the college admission literature. I can't think of any other book as a substitute. However, I also recommend `A is for Admission' by Michele Hernandez. In their own research, the authors mention this is one of the better and most honest books on college admission they came across. I agree, as I have also studied that book in detail. Nevertheless, `The Early Admission Game' given its much more narrow focus than your standard college admission guide drills down a lot deeper on acceptance rate probabilities, and other implications of the early admission programs at top schools. Their research is unequivocal; applying Early Action (EA) is the equivalent of a 100-point boost in SAT score. While applying Early Decision (ED) is the equivalent of a 150 + point boost in SAT score. Most of the selective schools that use these programs refute this evidence. They argue that the pool of students who apply early is much stronger, and that is why the acceptance rates are higher. But, the authors' research strongly rebuts this. To the contrary, they found there is very little difference between the early applicants and the regular ones. They actually found that EA applicants were slightly stronger. But, that ED was slightly weaker. The book provides the best data I have ever seen on acceptance rates at the top schools. The book gives you the whole distribution of acceptance rate given specific SAT score buckets. For instance, Stanford's acceptance rate associated with SAT scores of 1400 is 9%. This is true whether a student applies early or not. Thus, in this case the SAT score is too low for the early admission benefit to kick in. On the other hand, if an applicant has an SAT score between 1410 - 1450, the acceptance rate for an early applicant jumps to 40% that is essentially the same as for regular applicants with SAT score of 1510 - 1550. Meanwhile, regular applicants with scores of 1410 - 1450 would get an acceptance rate of only 19%. In other words, an applicant with an SAT score of 1410 to 1450 would more than double their chance of being accepted by applying early (a jump from 19% to 40%). In essence, the early admission programs offer students a Faustian deal: apply early at a top school and you will get a much greater chance of being accepted. On the other hand, you will probably have reduced or eliminated your choice of colleges, and you will limit your financial

Leveling the playing field

This book is for those young people who have Ivy League dreams. Avery and his colleagues have written a guide for high school students and parents who don't know much about the game of early admissions. It's written in an accessible way. The authors bolster their advice with strong empirical evidence.

How to play the game AND how to make the game more fair

In the not-too-distant past, the college admissions process was fairly straightforward. It was not fair, but it was fairly straightforward. Some recent changes to the process have brought more fairness, some have brought more complexity, and some have reduced fairness while increasing complexity. A change that has both reduced fairness and increased complexity is the preponderance of "Early Admissions" (i.e., "Early Decision" and "Early Action") plans.Whatever one's opinions on Early Action (EA) and Early Decision (ED), they are realities that present high school students, their parents, and their counselors with a dilemma: To EA/ED or not to EA/ED?When looking for answers to this dilemma, students, parents, and counselors have had to rely on unclear messages, equivocal statements, anecdotes, and urban myths. "The Early Admissions Game: Joining the Elite" shines a bright and needed light into the darkest recesses of a murky maze. The book combines irrefutable statistics and the words of high school students, college students, and admissions professionals to present a clear and readable picture of a complex, often hermetic issue.I don't use the phrase "irrefutable statistics" loosely here. Statistics are too often used to "prove" a theory that looks a lot like the preconceived notion that the researcher brought to the research. However, in this case, the authors possess the objectivity to report their findings with clarity and without baggage. Also, their backgrounds in economics, public policy, and college admissions give them the qualifications and abilities to present a comprehensive and in-depth review of the subject."The Early Admissions Game" explains both how to play the game by the current rules and, at the same time, advocates for a better, fairer system for the future. Information for the debate on EA/ED and practical advice for those coping in the "Age of EA/ED" are well presented.Whether you love EA/ED, hate it, or just want to better understand EA/ED and the rest of the admissions process, this is a great book to read.

Don't apply to college before reading this!

This is an excellent expose of the game of college admissions as played mostly by the wealthiest and and most sophisticated prospective students who know about early decision programs. This book is, therefore, a must-read for every high school guidance counselor and parent of a child going to college, especially those who believe elite college admissions are extended only to the best qualified.The only criticism of early admission I have some disagreement with is one emphasized frequently in the book -- that first semester high school seniors who apply early do not have time to sufficiently research potential colleges and know which will be the best fits for them. Information about colleges should be gathered during the student's junior year and, by September or October of his senior year, he/she should have a a good enough idea of what is reasonable to attain and what he/she wants in a college to be able to choose one above all others -- if early decision is something that student wants. The difference in application deadlines is only two months, not enough to make a significant difference for the serious-minded student. If that student wants Princeton more than any other college and, if Princeton fills 60% of its class from early applicants, it would be foolish for that student to wait until January to apply. That may not be the ideal situation but it is the reality.