Harvard's Tercentenary Class Will Have 1050 Members Enroll in Memorial Hall

Harvard's Tercentenary Class--the 300th since the settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony deemed it wise to hand down their learning to the youth--will pass in a long parade through the historic portals of Memorial Hall, on Friday, September 20, as approximately 1050 entering Freshmen register for the opening of their four years of "higher education."

Preliminary figures from University Hall, the administration building of the college, indicate that the entering class this year is considerably smaller than those of recent years, the Class of 1938 having entered 1111, including dropped Freshmen.

The present figure of 1055, already decreased since the admission of the class by the annual shrinkage, will probably, according to college officials, decrease further on registration day, since there are always some who make last minute changes in their plans.

The bumper crop of Harvard freshman was in 1932 when a total of 1167 were entered. In 1934 the class was second in size only to the large group of 1932. The Committee on Admissions aims to keep the class within 1000 because accommodations are available for approximately that number.

Unofficial estimates of the geographical distribution of the Class of 1939 reveal no startling changes from previous years, and indicate that it will follow the usual formula with more than half of the men coming from the New England district. A slight decrease in the number from this section and also from the middle west from the figure of last year is noted in the early statistics.

At the same time there is a corresponding slight increase in the number from the Middle Atlantic, Southern and Western states.

The proportions are about as follows:

Section  Per CentNew England  53Middle Atlantic  27Middle Western  15Southern  3Western