Harvard Ending Early Admissions

From this morning's Boston Globe: "Harvard will announce today that it is eliminating early admission, a move that is likely to turn the college admissions system upside down." Click here for the full story. ... The Harvard Crimson has an extensive story on the new policy here. Green Alert Take: I certainly couldn't say it any better than this next takeout from the Crimson story:

“The old adage is, ‘When Harvard sneezes, everyone else gets pneumonia,’” said Bruce Breimer, school principal and director of college relations at the Collegiate School in New York. “It’s going to cause everyone else to re-evaluate.”

I'll be asking Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens what effect he thinks the change in policy might have on Ivy League athletics after today's practice. In the meantime, consider this from the Globe story:

"This is huge; it's a real demonstration of educational leadership," said Lloyd Thacker, founder of the Education Conservancy, a two-year-old nonprofit pushing for admissions reform. "Early decision locks in special-interest groups like full-paying students, legacies, and football players. It distorts the playing field."

Here's the New York Times story that includes the following kicker, which was my first reaction and I suspect the first reaction of a number of coaches around the Ivy League.

"Several educators said only a university with Harvard’s reputation could take the risk involved with eliminating early admission because it will continue to be the first choice for so many top students."

The Ivy League's official weekend football preview has been posted with the Dartmouth-Colgate outlook here.