Applicants to the University now have the option of limiting the length of time they have to wait to find out whether they've been accepted by applying under the Office of Admissions's new Early Response program.

Early Response, available for applicants to all University schools and colleges - other than the School of Art and Design and the School of Music, Theater and Dance - guarantees that students who apply by Oct. 31 will be informed whether they've been accepted, rejected or deferred by Dec. 21.

Unlike similar programs at many other colleges, Early Response will offer rolling admissions during the time period rather than notifying all participants of their admission status on the same date, said Ted Spencer, associate vice provost and executive director of undergraduate admissions.

The University developed Early Response as a means of monitoring and managing admissions levels, better serving applicants and allowing time for those admitted to get to know the University, Spencer said.

"Students we admit early have an opportunity to look into the University," he said. "It demystifies for a lot of students the anxieties they have in applying to selective colleges."

Spencer said an early admissions option allows the University to better process the growing number of applicants, as well as keep abreast of developments in higher education and take advantage of the benefits research shows such programs provide to students and colleges.

"Early has become more the rule than the exception," he said.

Being free to decline offers of admission to the University, accepted Early Response applicants have until May 1 - the regular deadline for all undergraduate admissions - to enroll.

Spencer said this is the approach most schools take for their early admissions programs - a move away from Early Decision programs like the one Harvard discarded this year, which bind participants to enrolling if accepted.

Early Response applicants will be reviewed using the same criteria applied to applicants during the regular rolling admissions, Spencer said.

He said students deferred during the Early Response period will find out their acceptance status around the time deferrals from the regular admission cycle are decided, which can be as late as mid-summer.

Admissions personnel have been considering adopting an early admissions option for the past three years, Spencer said. He said the success of last year's switch to completely paperless admissions in speeding up the processing time for applications presented the right opportunity to implement Early Response.

"The paperless system worked wonderfully," Spencer said.

High school counselors will be able to give their students more concrete advice for approaching the University's often-enigmatic admissions process now because Early Response clearly highlights advantages of applying early, Spencer said.

Decisions about scholarships will continue to be made through out the fall and winter, while the University will still begin to allocate need-based grants in March.