For those of us already at Washington University, Nov. 15 is just an ordinary Monday. For undergraduate admissions officers, however, it’s a marked day—the onslaught of college applications officially begins with an Early Decision (ED) round of admission.

Decisions are rendered in mid-December, and if admitted via ED, applicants will be required to cancel any outstanding applications at other schools and to accept Wash. U. admission. In other words, an Early Decision application signifies a binding commitment that the student will attend Washington University if admitted.

In theory, Early Decision makes sense: early admission provides high school students with a more peaceful final semester, and it benefits Wash. U. because admissions officers can see which students are most enthusiastic about attending.

However, we feel that Early Decision renders an undue disadvantage on those students who need financial aid to apply. Consenting to a binding ED agreement means that students are unable to compare financial aid offers from different colleges, and students have no guarantee upon applying that the financial aid they receive will actually be enough to ensure that they can attend the University.

We encourage the University to switch to Early Action (EA) to allow for a more socioeconomically diverse applicant pool. EA allows for an early application review and admissions decision, but it does not contractually bind students to attending Wash. U. Instead, applicants can wait until May 1 to notify the University of their final choice.

An EA option would provide prospective students with the opportunity to compare all financial aid and scholarship offers from all schools from which they receive admission before committing to a specific institution. These students would have time to make another campus visit to see if Wash. U. really is the right place for them. Moreover, EA might balance the size of each admission pool by attracting students who would otherwise hold off applying until the Regular Decision round in January.

We don’t suggest that the University completely eliminate early admission options, as peer-institutions such as Harvard, Princeton and the University of Virginia have done. The ED option, however, is too rigid. High school students who love Wash. U. but who want the freedom to explore other options are forced to apply via Regular Decision and to wait until the spring to know if they got in. Applicants willing to put in the extra effort ahead of time should certainly be able to receive an admissions decision early. They should, however, be able to substantively compare their choices.