Director of Admissions Marlyn M. Lewis '70 said that even if the other Ivy League schools switch to Early Decision, Harvard has no intention of following their lead.

"We have no plan at all to abandon the current program," Lewis said. "It's a terrific thing for us and an asset for people who might want to go to Harvard."

Lewis pointed to Harvard's admissions yield rate of 75 percent as one reason why "we are convinced that [Early Decision] wouldn't serve our best interest."

"[Harvard would be] very reluctant to move to an admissions process that binds people by the time they apply," she said.

Paul K. Killebrew, associate director of admissions for Dartmouth College, said he could understand why schools might want to change their Early Action programs.

"There are justifications for both (Early Action and Early Decision) in general; it has to do with your competitive position...It has to do with marketing strategy and judging one's position in the group [of Ivy-League schools]."

He said Harvard had no need to change its program because it does not have the need to bind students early.

"Early Action... encourages students to send in a lot of applications... and to decide later where they really want to go," Reichley said.

Lewis said that to bind students to matriculation through Early Decision "doesn't seem fair."

Reichley said Brown's Early Action program has secured a high rate of matriculation.

"It would appear that [Early Action] has been successful," he said