Wink & Nod

By ANNE MARIE CHAKER

Early-decision admissions policies may be falling out of favor at some top universities, but many schools are quietly using an array of other tools to win over the best students early.

In increasing numbers, colleges are wooing their top choices with notes of praise and hints of acceptance letters and scholarship money to come. The idea is to win their affections by getting them some good news before the competition does. This courtship, which can take place up to several months before formal acceptance letters hit students' mailboxes, comes in various forms: everything from "likely" letters -- which tell students that they're likely to get admitted -- to "love" letters, or handwritten notes from admissions offices complimenting a student's essay or some other aspect of the application. At least one school, Mary Washington College, goes a step further. It outright accepts the student early, even though it recently did away with its formal early-decision policy.

A WINK AND A NOD
Colleges are courting their best students earlier in an effort to win their affections. Here are some of the techniques they're using.

It's all part of the intensifying competition for the cream of the crop among high-school seniors. Landing those students drives up the SAT scores and grade-point averages of the freshman class, which leads to better results on much-followed college rankings in publications like U.S. News & World Report. That, in turn, creates heightened interest from prospective applicants and also helps on the fund-raising circuit.

Early-decision policies, which let students apply early but require them to attend if accepted, have long helped schools land the best applicants. But some top colleges, most recently Yale and Stanford, plan to stop offering that option in the face of mounting criticism that it forces students to make decisions too hastily. Another criticism is that it disproportionately benefits privileged students who are more aware that the option exists.

At the same time, schools are trying other ways of snaring the brightest students early on. Recently, Grinnell College in Iowa began sending out "wink" letters, which assure recipients that they are "one of a select number of applicants" whose accomplishments "merit special recognition." Translation: You're in!

"If you're among the first colleges to admit the person, there's a higher level of excitement," says Jim Sumner, dean of admission and financial aid. Nearly one-quarter of students who have received a "wink" letter end up enrolling at Grinnell, a number Mr. Sumner is pleased with, given that they're a tougher group to recruit.

Other schools are moving in the same direction. Barnard College in New York City says it is "strongly considering" sending out "likely" letters either this year or the next. Barnard would join Dartmouth, Smith, Clark and many other colleges that also rely on some version of the early letter.

Most Ivy League schools generally send out such letters only when pursuing an athlete who may be getting sports scholarships from non-Ivy institutions. In fact, all the Ivies are bound by a rule that requires them to mail out their acceptance letters no earlier than April 2. Dartmouth says its "likely" letters aren't a violation because they don't outright admit the applicant, they just hint at it.

All of this presents high-school seniors with some new options as they're shopping around for colleges. Earlier this month, Kyle Breidenstine got a letter from Clark saying he had been admitted, although the Worcester, Mass., school typically doesn't send out acceptance letters until the end of March. Mr. Breidenstine, the letter went on to say, is eligible for at least $44,000 in scholarship money from the school.

Now the Shoemakersville, Pa., senior says he will use that letter as leverage to get more aid from his second choice, Elizabethtown College -- and Elizabethtown is all ears. "There are many occasions where we will see offers from other institutions" that beat Elizabethtown's, says Kent Barnds, dean of admissions and enrollment management, "and we have a committee that assesses how badly we want that student and how we might want to react."

Still, students who get promises of acceptance as well as scholarship money should be careful not to accept too soon. Wait until the other schools send their offers and then "fax them the original offer from the likely letter and see if they can match it or do better," says Francine Block, a private college counselor in Holland, Pa.

The letters come in many different flavors. Williams College sends out what it calls "early write" letters. Shipped to students at least a month before the rest of the admissions results are circulated, these letters are the equivalent of an acceptance.

Every March, Smith College contacts its best candidates with early scholarship notices. In addition to all but promising admittance, they offer $2,500 a year in scholarship money and a paid campus research job.

That was enough to sell Jaci Eisenberg, now in her first year at Smith. She had been leaning toward the University of Chicago in the early part of her senior year of high school, until she got the scholarship letter. "That kind of cinched it," she says.

A Wink and a Nod

Colleges are courting their best students earlier in an effort to win their affections. Here are some of the techniques they're using.

School Method Comment
Dartmouth College "Likely" letter Sent before the Ivy League's agreed-upon mailing date for acceptance letters. Dartmouth says the letters are not a violation because they only hint at admission rather than grant it. "We do these letters to try to introduce some 'humanity' into the pressured admissions process," says dean of admissions and financial aid Karl Furstenberg.
Grinnell College "Wink" letter Not much winking and more of a straight admission. Letter reads: "I am both pleased and excited to send you this early notification of your acceptance to Grinnell College."
Clark University "Love" letter A note, often handwritten, saying "how much the admissions office enjoyed reading the application or that we appreciated the effort the student made to present a thoughtful essay," says dean of admissions Harold Wingood.
Williams College "Early write" A committee meets every week for several weeks in January and February to "really look for the superstars," says Richard Nesbitt, director of admissions. The result: About 200 students every year receive an admittance letter two months before the rest of the pack.
Colorado College "Early notification" School admits about 10% of all "regular" admissions candidates about three weeks early.
Smith College Early scholarship notice "The fact that Smith thinks these students are special is conveyed to them," says director of admissions Audrey Smith. The message is reinforced with $2,500 a year in scholarship money and a paid position as a campus researcher.
Mary Washington College "Honors" admission Sends "fancy, shmancy, suitable-for-framing" certificates that say "honors admission" to about one-third of admits, says Martin Wilder, vice president for enrollment.