“Many colleges would get rid of binding early decision if others would do so as well, but each prefers to keep binding decision for itself, whatever the other does,” he says.
Collective action is not only unlikely, but also legally problematic. “Given past antitrust rulings, it would be hard for the colleges to get together and agree to adhere to a common, less binding style,” Zeckhauser says.
In spite of their hope that The Early Admissions Game will lead to some kind of reform, they say that they do not expect any significant changes in the current upward trend of early applications.
“For better or worse, this knowledge about how the system is really working will lead to more people applying early,” Avery says. “There’s some possibility that there will be a major change, but I don’t know how.”
—Staff writer Divya A. Mani can be reached at mani@fas.harvard.edu.