Students applying for college through early admission programs learned their fate when acceptance letters arrived in late December and early January.

According to the College Board, as many as 67,000 students applied to early admission programs in 2001. In addition, a study published in Newsweek said an early admission application can be worth as much as a 100-point difference on the SAT. However, in an effort to get the most gifted students to apply to their schools, universities such as Yale and Stanford are getting rid of their restrictive early decision programs and opting instead for less-binding early action programs.

Unlike early decision, which requires students to attend the school to which they are accepted, early action simply notifies students of their acceptance early, but allows them to choose whether to accept or decline admission.

“It [early decision] can be dangerous. You have to read the small print of the application,”  said counselor Carla Minter. Minter suggests that students applying for early decision be certain the school is the place they want to attend since many early decision programs require students to rescind all other college applications. If a student does not withdraw his applications, the early decision school can deny him admission.

For the first time ever, the University of Georgia (UGA) began to accept students under an early action program. UGA reportedly received more than 4000 applications in the program’s first year and only has 3300 spaces left for students applying via regular decision to the class of 2007. UGA mailed letters for early action on December 16, informing students of acceptance, deferment, or denial.

Senior Alec Watts was accepted to UGA under early action. “I’m not worried about my classes this semester,” said Watts.

He was also satisfied with the policy of dorm selection at UGA. “The sooner you get accepted, the sooner you get a dorm.”

Senior Nicole Hayes was one of the several students deferred from UGA; however, she remains optimistic about her chances of getting into UGA.

“At least I didn’t get rejected. I hope that when they actually look at me in depth, they’ll see I’m a good student,” said Hayes. “UGA is a good school, and they want good students. I can’t blame them for that.”

Head counselor Alan Loper defines college deferment as a “delay in admissions on the school’s part.” Loper said that when first-semester grades are made available, a college makes a decision and then sends acceptance and denial letters in March.

Colleges that deny early admission to students do not reconsider their applications for admission. All other students who apply for the regular decision will submit applications by February and should expect acceptance letters in early April.