Three Chinese to Enter Class of '84

Three students from the People's Republic of China were accepted to the Class of 1984 and have decided to come to Harvard next year, admissions officials said yesterday.

"It's a kind of adventure," Seamus P. Malin, assistant dean of admissions and financial aid, said yesterday. "We've never had any students from the People's Republic apply. Now three of them are going to be coming," he said.

Adventure

Two of the three students will be coming directly from mainland China. The third student has been living in the greater Boston area for about a year.

A fourth student from the People's Republic turned Harvard down and will be attending Stanford next year.

"We were fortunate this year to have an alumnus in the area who encouraged students to apply and interviewed them for us," Malin said.

Travel

Both of the students who will be coming directly from China are now studying at the Foreign Language Institute in Beijing and speak excellent English, Malin said.

He added that they would probably be a few years older than most freshmen because of variations in China's school system and political disruptions that may have disturbed the continuity of their schooling.

A state department official said yesterday she believes the students will have no more difficulties than most foreign students attending Harvard. But she added that the students will have to inform the state department of their travel plans within the United States.

Money

The students, however, will encounter a financial complication because the People's Republic limits the amount of money students may take out of the country to 30 Chinese yen ($21). The students, therefore, will be on nearly full scholarships while they are here.

Eagerness

But Malin said the problems involved appear minimal. "There is a real sense of cooperation, a real eagerness to move this kind of thing along," he said.

In addition to the Chinese students, students from South Africa, Yugoslavia, Malaysia and the public school system of Cardiff in Wales will be enrolling at Harvard next year.