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They Went to College Early
an applicant is normally expected to have completed four years
of secondary school work for entrance, an exception will
occasionally be made for a candidate of unusual promise and
maturity who has completed three years." No particular scholarship
arrangements are made for this group other than those made for all
applicants for financial aid. The University does not make a
special effort to find and encourage Early Admission
applications.
Yale feels
that early admissions should be part of the policy of every college
and university. It does not, however, feel that a specific number
of places should be reserved for early admission candidates in each
class, nor that a university such as our own should make special
effort to attract such Scholars other than having as its policy the
admission of those duly qualified.
THE
FUTURE OF EARLY ADMISSION
In
Bridging the Gap Between School and College, the Fund said
that the preliminary results of the Early Admission Program were
"decidedly encouraging." On the basis of the evidence presented in
this report, it now feels that the results to date have been
impressive.
Although the
period of Fund support has ended, 11 of the 12 colleges
participating in the experiment have incorporated the early
admission idea into their regular admissions policy. (Wisconsin has
not yet taken any action on the matter.) At least one of the
colleges—Goucher—has set up a special scholarship
program for early admission students. At the other colleges, early
admission students are permitted to compete for scholarship aid on
equal terms with other entering freshmen.
There are
some indications that the early admission idea is gaining wider
acceptance. The College Entrance Examination Board reports that 29
of its 169 member colleges had early admission programs in the
academic year 1955–56. Only six of these were participants in
the Fund-supported experiment. It is interesting to note that 27 of
the 29 also had programs of advanced placement, thus providing able
high school students two