Harvard may eventually be the only Ivy League school to offer an Early Action admissions option, officials at three Ivy League schools indicated yesterday.

Princeton, Yale and Brown said they may drop the Early Action option in favor of Early Decision in the years ahead.

Early Action allows students to apply to and receive notification from an institution before the January admissions deadline. Early Decision requires candidates to commit to attend that institution if accepted.

Robert A. Reichley, Brown's vice president for university relations, said his school would consider a change if Princeton and Yale did first.

"It is our understanding that these [changes] are under serious consideration," Reichley said.

Steve Lemenager, Princeton's associate dean of admissions, said Thursday that his University has thought about altering its admissions structure.

"We are in the process of thinking about [the change]... for the class of 2000," he said.

Lloyd Peterson Jr., associate director for undergraduate admissions at Yale, said the New Haven school has not yet had time to fully discuss the chance of changing to Early-Decision.

"There will be some discussion," he said. "That's a guarantee."

The officials said they need to think about how the switch would affect the application pool to their schools.

"[We have to] think about how it will affect...our application pool," Peterson said. "It's time to rethink that."

Peterson said public response to possible changes is also important in determining Yale's course of action.

"Early Decision locks students in," Peterson said. "The competition for students has increased so much the last few years...[With Early Decision,] you have a better handle on the numbers."

For the time being, Peterson said, Yale is comfortable with its Early-Action program.

Harvard Won't Change

Harvard, however, remains firm in its decision to offer Early Action.