Yes, the cynic in me questions the timing of the release of this news story given that Harvard and Princeton have each grabbed education headlines the last two days (here and here) for their decisions to drop early admissions (more on this is a second). But the funding for this project, coming from the Hewlett Foundation, must have been a long time in the works since foundations move like...well, lets just say slowly. This story will certainly buy them some time to figure out if they want to follow suit in dropping early admissions.

Speaking of cynic in me, when Harvard and Princeton announced their decisions to end early admissions the needle on my Empty-Gesture-O-Meter (EGOM) started going crazy. At first blush this sounded like a great idea: eliminate some of the pressure and stress from the admissions process and, even more importantly, help out poorer students who are less likely to apply. But on further reflection, I'm not sure I understand how this is going to benefit economically-disadvantaged students at all because the same admissions officers that were letting more affluent students in under early admission/action can still do so, only now it will happen two months later. That is, unless Harvard and Princeton admissions officers are suggesting that because early admission existed they felt compelled to let people in who they might not otherwise take--you know, because (1) they have a hard time saying "No." [they have 11% and 9% acceptance rates respectively] and (2) if they didn't take students early, they might not fill the class. If this were the case, well then what are you waiting for? Hoist the banners, cue the music, and hail the conquering heroes--thank goodness the beast is dead.