Applications Rise 20%; Glimp Sees Slowdown

Applications for next year's freshman class are running about 20 per cent ahead of the number received by this time last year, Fred L. Glimp '50, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aids, said last night.

Although the avalanche alarmed the Admissions Committee at first, Glimp expects that when all applications are in, the increase will be only about ten per cent over last year's figure--or a total of 6400 applications for about 1200 places.

"The statisticians warned that we should look out for last year and this year," Glimp explained, "and we were prepared for a substantial increase." He added, in the class. however, that he "would shudder at the thought of an overall increase of 20 per cent this year."

Harvard has actually taken less than its share of the national increase in college applicants, Glimp explained. The "postwar baby boom" has produced about 40 to 50 per cent more high school graduates entering college this year and next year than in the previous two-year period.

Up 12% Last Year

Last year 12 per cent more people applied to the Class of '68 than to the present sophomore class, so Harvard's two-year increase will probably come to about 24 per cent.

The application total will again be increased slightly by referrals from a 15-college "Talent Searching Program" that has tried to interest "disadvantaged students," mostly from the South, in applying to prominent institutions in the Northeast.

Glimp is most troubled by the probability that it will be "harder than ever" to choose the members of the class. The quality of candidates will probably be up again, he said, and thus "Harvard will be turning down better people than ever before."

Otherwise, only minor administrative burdens are expected, according to Glimp. Each application folder of about 15 pages will still receive three readings and thorough discussion by members of the Committee. The only change in application requirements has been to require two teachers' recommendations from every candidate, instead of only the scholarship candidates.

400 Scholarships

The Admissions Committee expects to award 400 scholarships to the Class of 1969. The number of freshmen with financial aid grants climbed to this figure this year when tuition was increased to $1760.

If this trend continues, as Glimp expects it will, by the time the Class of 1971 enters Harvard, the number of scholarship holders in the College will have risen from 1400 to 1600 over four years.