GROWING NUMBER OF COLLEGE HOPEFULS GETTING EARLY WORD.

Byline: Karen W. Arenson The New York Times

Competing to attract good students, a broad range of public and small private colleges and universities are taking a page from more elite institutions by creating or expanding programs in which prospective students learn months earlier than usual whether they have been accepted for admission the following fall.

At the same time, many elite institutions, like Columbia, Brown, Yale and Swarthmore, report early application mailbags that are more than 15 percent bigger than last year's.

In contrast, only a handful of top-tier colleges, like Harvard, Williams, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Chicago, have seen early applications plateau or decline this year, and even in those cases only after big jumps in recent years.

``Early decision is part of the process of being looked at as a more selective college,'' said Jane Dane, dean of admissions at Salisbury State University in Maryland, which added an early decision program two years ago. ``Early decision can add to that perception,'' although ``it can't be the only thing you offer.''

A survey of colleges and universities this year by the National Association for College Admission Counseling found that while most early decision programs had been in place more than five years, one in 10 had been developed only in the past two years. The researchers, Teresa Flannery and Linda Clement of the University of Maryland at College Park, said institutions that added early-decisions programs within the past five years ``were more likely to be public and moderately selective.''

The State University of New York at Buffalo, for example, introduced such a program last year, when it found that good students wanted the option and that it seemed a symbol of prestige and selectivity.

``Frankly, quality students applying to quality schools expect to find such a program,'' said Regina Toomey, interim director of admissions at Buffalo. ``In looking at colleges, they perceive colleges with early decision programs to be top colleges. It's one mark of distinction.''

Buffalo received 200 early applications last year and expects this year's total to be comparable.

The State University of New York at Stony Brook, which added an early decision program this year, says it helps both the prospective student and the school.

``Given the competitive nature of college decisions today, early decision helps colleges meet their enrollment targets,'' said Robert Pertusati, associate dean of admissions and director of recruiting at Stony Brook. ``Colleges want to do everything in their power to ensure that students enroll there.''

Howard University in Washington, another institution that adopted early decision this year, was motivated by ``the competition for students who want to know early,'' said Janice Nicholson, associate vice president for enrollment management. But early decision also will give Howard ``a better opportunity to plan,'' Nicholson said.

Early decision originally was meant to reduce the anxiety of applicants, who otherwise waited until spring to receive college acceptance letters. (The more selective the college, the greater the anxiety.) Students willing to apply to only one college by an early date (usually this month), and to commit to attend if accepted, get an early response (usually by mid-December). Some colleges also give students early answers without requiring any commitment, through ``early action'' or ``rolling admissions'' programs.

For many students, early decision is highly appealing. Many cite their strong preference for a particular college and the lure of finding out early. But guidance counselors use words like ``terror'' and ``panic'' to describe the mood among students weighing early decision applications to colleges this fall. ``There has been a great deal of increased interest - some would say panic - among students and their families this year,'' said B. Ann Wright, dean of enrollment management at Smith College, where 21 percent of the 643 women in the current freshman class were accepted early and where the number of early applications appears to be higher this year than last.

Whatever the approach or the prestige of the college, there is no question that more students are applying early.

Even universities where early decision has not been so prevalent in the past are seeing growth. Virginia Tech, for example, saw early applications jump 30 percent this year, to 1,841, and Butler University in Indianapolis saw its nonbinding early applications soar 70 percent, to 1,083.

Some colleges that have early decision programs also have tried to make them more accessible or enticing.

Many of the selective women's colleges, for example, offer two rounds of early decision, giving extra time to students for whom such a college may not have been a first choice.

At Franklin & Marshall College, in Lancaster, Pa., early decision students receive first crack at need-based financial aid, first-year tuition at the previous year's rate and first choice in freshman seminar topics.

``The college benefits from having a high proportion of students for whom it is first choice,'' said Peter Van Buskirk, director of admission at Franklin & Marshall.

While many students who opt for early decision cite their strong preference for a particular college and the lure of finding out early, some also mention their belief that the odds may be slightly better than in regular admissions.

Ernest Choi, a senior at Stuyvesant High School in New York, noted that many of his friends were applying early to Columbia, Brown and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but that he was passionate about Stanford.

``I applied early, because I was just hoping for less pressure,'' he said. ``You get the application done. You hand it in, and that's a bit of security if you think you have a good chance of getting in. Instead of applying to six or seven colleges, you apply to one, so it's easier. Also, I think colleges look at early decision carefully, because they know how badly the students want to go.''

Eva Chen, a senior at Brearley, a private girls school in New York City, applied for early decision from Amherst College because she liked the size of the college and its programs.

``I felt I had nothing to lose if I applied early to a school,'' she added. ``The worst they can do is defer me to the regular pool, so I was willing to take the chance. In their admission information, they say there is a slight statistical advantage to applying early, but only apply to Amherst if you really want to go here.''

To some college-bound seniors, and their guidance counselors, it appears that applicants to selective colleges who are part of the later, larger flood of applicants may have a harder time getting admitted. This year, for example, Harvard and Princeton both filled nearly half their freshman classes with early applicants, while Stanford, Amherst, MIT, Dartmouth and Williams were among those who took more than one-third of their entering classes early.

``It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that you better do something,'' said Jim Conroy, chairman of the post-high school counseling department at New Trier High School, a public school in the Chicago suburb of Winnetka, where 95 percent of the students go on to college.

At Highland Park High School in suburban Dallas, which sends 98 percent of its graduates to college, students ``really think that their chances are better if they apply early,'' said Lynn Caldwell, director of guidance for the Highland Park Independent School District. ``Last year, that proved to be true.''

In one case, Caldwell said, in which 42 students from her high school applied to one college, some students who applied early were admitted while some stronger students who applied during the regular admissions cycle were not.

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Chart: The Early Route to College

The New York Times