Early colleges can play a key role in bridging the gap between high school and higher education. In addition to allowing students to earn transferrable college credits for free, these schools boost students' chances of applying to and earning a college degree. This pertains especially to students who are traditionally underrepresented in higher…

Early college entrance is a form of acceleration, or the process of advancing students in academic programs faster than their same-aged peers. Many early entrants have demonstrated academic ability to achieve at high levels but they exhibit tremendous variety in their age, specific abilities, social and emotional maturity, family support, and…

In this paper we explore our experiences working with queer and trans youth who have taken "non-traditional pathways out of high school. Drawing on Foucauldian theories of normalisation and Halberstam's queerings of time, success, and failure, we consider how certain aspects of schooling have shaped queer and trans youths' desire to seek out…

Early admissions is widely used by selective colleges and universities. We identify some basic facts about early admissions policies, including the admissions advantage enjoyed by early applicants and patterns in application behavior, and propose a game-theoretic model that matches these facts. The key feature of the model is that colleges want to…

Experience and research repeatedly illustrate the need for and value of parent advocates--as parents know their child best. Parents need to be prepared to take a positive, proactive, and focused role with teachers and administrators in their child's school to find the best programming for their child. Academic acceleration should be considered as…

"A Nation Deceived" (2004) documents the benefits of acceleration for gifted children. Supported by this groundbreaking research, acceleration has come into focus on the national scene. Our society seems concerned with making education "fair." What we need to realize is that fair does not mean the same for all. In fact, that would be very…

This four-page summary provides the most current data on the growth and impact of the Early College High School Initiative. It includes data on the schools' impact on students, descriptions of the various types of early college schools, the four core principles of the Early College High School Initiative, how early college students are faring, and…

The Early Entrance Program at California State University, Los Angeles, has successfully met the needs of some highly gifted 11-16 year-olds. The rationale for the program, its stages of development, and some case histories are described. It is suggested that this model can be inexpensively adapted for other campuses. (Author/CL)

At the annual conference of the National Association for College Admission Counseling (Nacac), admissions deans and high-school counselors gathered in September 2007 to grapple with questions such as: (1) Rethinking the role of standardized tests in admissions (many attendees predict that psychometric giants ACT and SAT, will not always dominate…

Describes how the refusals of Princeton and Brown to follow restrictions on early-admissions programs have put the universities at odds with a national admissions association, and left applicants in the middle. (EV)

Describes how a growing number of colleges are using on-site "instant" admissions programs to let applicants know in person whether they have been accepted. (EV)

Discusses criticism of early admissions decisions, including claims that it heavily benefits colleges, puts too much pressure on some students, and hurts those who need financial aid. (EV)

Is college admission a business or a profession? This question is timeless because no issue (with possible exception of the perennial debate about whether admission(s) is singular or plural) sparks as much passion among admission practitioners, and it is timely because many of the controversial issues found in college admission today beg the…

Although the academic gains associated with acceleration and peer ability grouping are well documented, resistance to their use for gifted students continues because of concerns that such practices will cause social or emotional harm to students. Results from the broad research indicate that grade skipping, early school entrance, and early…

The increasingly popular option of applying "early decision" (ED) requires a student to make a binding commitment that, if admitted to a particular college, she or he will enroll. Now offered by 184 U.S. colleges and universities, ED is a highly effective--and therefore highly seductive--tool for managing enrollment. This author argues,…