Top of the Class

In a Talk of the Town piece in the October 2, 2006 edition of The New Yorker, Executive Editor Dorothy Wickenden discusses how "the competition to get into, or get one's kids into, the nation's most prestigious colleges and universities is unmatched for cutthroat ferocity. But it is echoed, however faintly, in the jousting among Ivy League administrators to be at the forefront of enlightened academic and social policy. A couple of weeks ago, Harvard announced that it was suspending its early-admissions program. A few days later, Princeton scrapped its program entirely. Although most schools aren't likely to follow that lead any time soon, it has sparked another round of welcome debate within academe about the need to reform college admissions."