Without reopening the pros and cons of that debate, are there parts of the ED process that you will miss, and how do you expect the elimination of ED will impact UVa's Admissions Office as you work to select the young men and women who will join the UVa community in the fall of 2008?
I personally don't miss the Early Decision process at all. The atmosphere in our office is extremely pleasant right now. When we start our reading season, our lives change dramatically...to the point that loved ones groan when the first pile of folders comes home. We stop going to movies, concerts, and sporting events. Thanksgiving sneaks up on us. The holidays are a blur. I'm really enjoying fall in Charlottesville for the very first time (CavBear would have never gone to the Halloween festival if we had Ed...I wouldn't have had time for that).
Up until now, I've only really thought about the educational reasons for the ED change. I'm realizing that this is a nice change for us personally as well. We're probably better admission officers right now. When the piles start mounting, we don't have as much time to talk with students on the phone or greet our visitors when they return from tours (Deans greeting the tours is a tradition here).
Obviously, things will change this year. We'll probably see a decrease in application numbers, because some student will have applied ED elsewhere. We're okay with that. Our reading load in January and February might be a little heavier, but I think it's a fine trade off!