William R. Fitzsimmons, Harvard College's longtime dean of admissions and financial aid, said that, for a number of years, "the admissions frenzy was ruining the experience for juniors and seniors." Harvard's decision, however, was met with skepticism by many schools, where admissions officers said they do not plan to end their early-admissions programs.

Fitzsimmons said the early-admissions applicant pool has historically been dominated by affluent whites who know how to play the intricate system of getting into a top school. Last year, Harvard accepted about a third of its class from the early-admissions pool. By going to a single January deadline for the first time in 30 years, the school hopes to recruit a fresh pool of students nationally who might not ordinarily apply.

With many schools accepting a large percentage of early-admissions applicants, the process has evolved into a strategic way to gain a competitive edge.

Yesterday, some school admissions officers praised Harvard for being the first of the elite schools to address the concerns, but they also noted that Harvard's prestige gives it the freedom to make the change without affecting the quality of its applicant pool. For many of the smaller, selective schools aggressively competing for the same students, an early-admissions program is an economic security blanket, and it gives them a chance to nail down at least a portion of their freshman enrollment as they continue to recruit other good students.

Charles Deacon, dean of undergraduate admissions at Georgetown University, said the Jesuit school will not do what Harvard has done because it depends on early admissions to secure commitments from some of the top students in the country. "I agree in principle with what they are doing, but it seems they could have taken some intermediate steps first. Why do they have to take such a large number from the early pool?" he said. "We take an equal percentage from both pools."

Many administrators agreed yesterday that, at a minimum, Harvard's decision will open up a fresh round of discussion on a wildly competitive admissions process that has consumed schools for years.

"Change is good," said John A. Blackburn, dean of admissions at the University of Virginia, a state school with a large out-of-state competitive applicant pool. "I think what most of us are seeing is that low-income students do not apply to early programs. I suspect that Harvard's decision will eventually say to other schools, 'Maybe we'll try it, too.' "

Lois Romano, Washington Post