Later deadlines offer flexibility for high schoolers

Admissions offices in colleges across Massachusetts will leave their doors open a little bit longer this year, allowing indecisive high school seniors longer time to find the perfect collegiate fit.

Though early May falls as the typical enrollment deadline for incoming freshmen at most colleges, a few schools across the state have delayed their deadlines -- in some cases as late as a week before first semester begins.

As of May 1, 2007, nearly 68 percent of more than 200 two- and four-year schools surveyed in the region still had open slots for freshmen in the fall 2007 semester, according to the New England Board of Higher Education's 2007 Vacancy Survey. The same survey found 97 percent of the schools still had available financial aid.

"[We hope] to encourage students who may have thought opportunities were closed off to them," said Charlotte Stratton, New England Board of Higher Education spokeswoman.

Stratton said schools offering late admissions are generally small, private colleges looking to boost enrollment.

According to The Boston Globe, 62 of the 184 incoming freshmen at Pine Manor College, a women's school in Chestnut Hill, enrolled after May 1, while an additional 30 enrolled after August 15.

"[We] actively encouraged students to consider attending PMC during the summer months," Robin Engel, dean of Admissions and Financial Aid, said in an email. "We have some capacity to grow and we know there are talented young women who are a good match for PMC that are still searching in the summer."

Other area schools offer spots to late applicants, but prospective students should proceed with caution, officials say.

Mount Ida College in Newton, with a rolling admissions policy, accepts students until enrollment fills up. This year, Mount Ida accepted students until June, said spokesman Steven Peters.

Though the school extends its enrollment deadline, Peters said he does not encourage applicants to postpone the college selection process and says extended deadlines should not be viewed as a fallback or last resort.

"There is a high risk that they may not be where they want to be," Peters said. "Even if our admissions were down, we wouldn't bring students in late just to fill the class."

Regis College in Weston, however, practices rolling admissions specifically to accommodate students prone to making up their mind at the 11th hour, said Vice President of Enrollment and Marketing Joe Bellavance.

"It's really more of an individual thing and how well [students] were prepared academically and socially," Bellavance said about the school, which is home to less than 1,000 undergraduates. "There are some students that make that last-minute decision."

This year, Regis enrolled "a handful" of students a week before classes started, he said, adding that most of these students had a tough time making a final decision between Regis and other schools to which they had been accepted.

Though smaller schools are finding success with new admissions policies, Boston University's deadline stands firm at May 1, said spokesman Colin Riley.

Riley said an extended enrollment deadline would not make sense for BU because it is "highly selective." With issues of limited housing and course scheduling, an extension beyond May 1 "would wreak havoc" on the university, he said.

"[Late enrollment] doesn't seem like it would work in a larger school," Riley said. "The time frames that are in place right now work well."