School Debate

By Melissa August, Harriet Barovick, Elizabeth L. Bland, Victoria Rainert, Sora Song

Yale President Richard Levin doesn't like EARLY ADMISSIONS, the policy of letting high school seniors apply to one college early, usually by November. "It pushes the pressure of thinking about college back into the junior year of high school," he told the New York Times. There are BENEFITS: students, for example, can lock up a favorite school early and have a stress-free last semester of high school. Most elite-college presidents aren't ready to junk the practice. "Everybody is worried about the PRESSURE ON STUDENTS in high school," says Stanford's John Hennessy, "but we're not sure whether removing early admissions would make it better or worse."