Harvard to Accept 1600 For Next Freshman Class

Next year's freshman class will be the same size as this year's, with about 1600 students, Frances M. Pipkin, associate dean of the Faculty for the Colleges, said yesterday.

Pipkin said he could not predict the Class of 1980's male-female ratio because applicants will be chosen on the basis of merit, following Harvard's new sex-blind admissions policy.

"There is no way to forecast the ratio," Pipkin said. "Theoretically, it could be all girls."

L. Fred Jewett, dean of admissions and financial aid, said yesterday, "My guess is that there will be somewhat more women in the class than there are in this year's, but it's hard to say until we've gone through all the applications."

The class of 1980 will be made up of 1575 resident freshmen, 20 to 30 commuters, and about 50 transfer students, he said.

The number of freshmen in the past few years has fluctuated according to changes in available rooming space, Pipkin said. At times, the university has housed students in places beside the Yard and the Quad, such as the Hotel Continental, creating additional space for freshmen in the Quad, he said.

"The class size is strictly a matter of the number of beds," he added.

Stable Community

Remarking on the unchanged size, Robert E. Kaufman, assistant dean of the Faculty, said yesterday that this year, "the community is stabilized. We're finished with the admission of larger classes, and we've calculated about as many resident freshmen as the housing system will tolerate."

Pipkin said the number of commuters is still indefinite, as it depends on how many applicants who request commuter status are qualified for admission to the College.

Unstable Community

He also said the precise number of transfer students "is the hardest to get, because it depends on the number of upperclassmen taking and returning from leaves."

The University will probably inform transfer students of its decision by April or May, he said.

Normally, transfer students are admitted to the sophomore and junior classes, because the University requires students to stay at least two years to graduate, Jewett said.