Freshman Applicants Increase 20 Per Cent

Applications for admission to next year's Freshman class have increased approximately twenty per cent over last year, David D. Henry '41, Director of Admissions, reported yesterday.

Since early in September, Henry said, the Admissions Office has received 3400 applications from public and private school students, 500 more than were submitted by January 15, 1957.

Henry stated that the Admissions Office was uncertain about the reasons behind the large increase. He added that the number of applications received to date is not necessarily a true indication of the total number that the Admissions Committee will consider when it meets in April, since many students apply after the tentative January 15 deadline.

About one-half of the 3400 applying secondary school seniors are seeking financial aid, Henry reported. Approximately the same percentage of scholarship applications was received last year. Henry also said that about 100 students have applied from Exeter and 50 from Andover, the two private schools which have had the largest average number of students accepted annually.

No other major statistics have been compiled about the applicants, since most facts will not be tabulated on the University's IBM machines until February.

Tentative Acceptance

Approximately 300 of the students seeking entrance may know of tentative acceptance before the University's May notification date. Members of the Admissions Office staff hold conferences with some school principals, and, after considering interviews, class rankings, and Scholastic Aptitude Tests, give the school headmasters and principals some indication of an applicant's chances for admission, contingent upon consistent good work for the rest of the year.

Henry said that he was uncertain whether there would be an increase in the number of students admitted to the class of 1962, over previous years. At present, the freshman class numbers about 1,150, including 95 "forced commuters."