Early Decision and College Performance

This paper examines the relationship between admission status and college performance. In particular, we analyze admissions data from Hamilton College and find that students who applied through the Early Decision Plan II program have significantly lower GPAs and are less likely to receive departmental honors, fellowships, and outside scholarships than those admitted through the regular decision process. However, the results for Early Decision Plan I students are less consistent. These students have lower outcomes for some measures of academic achievement, but not others, than regular decision students. (Contains 4 tables.)