Law School Applicants

About 100 fewer people applied to the Law School this year than in 1976, with a proportionate drop in the number of minority applicants, an assistant director of admissions said yesterday.

This decline, which comes a year after Law School applications rose by 500, is less than expected, June N. Thompson said, adding that "applications are apparently levelling off at 6,500."

Minority applicants, including Cubans and Native Americans, dropped to 624 and the number of Harvard undergraduates seeking education in law to 283. Exact figures for last year were not available yesterday.

"In spite of the drop in applications, there will be more minority members accepted this year," Thompson said.

While there is no specific program to recruit minorities the Admissions Office asks current minority students to recruit individuals in their home areas, she added.

Interest in law school peaked in 1973-74, Joel S. Russell '71, pre-law adviser at OCS-OCL, said yesterday. The following year applications fell by more than 1000, and while 1975-76 total applications registered an increase, the trend downwards is reasserting itself, he said.

"While 100 people is not much of a fluctuation, I think there has been a tendency for application figures to drop, because a lot of people are beginning to realize that law is not a sure route to a career," he said.

Although the admissions process is still in its final stages it now appears there will be about the same number of applicants accepted as in past years, Thompson said. The Law School accepted about 850 people last year.