The Trend Reverses

For years the size of the College applicant pool grew larger and larger, and the acceptance rate fell lower and lower.

But now both figures seem to have hit their limits, leaving the Class of '84 as the last to go down in the records as "the most difficult Class to get into in Harvard-Radcliffe history."

Overall applications for the Class of '85 dropped by more than 300 to about 13,500, and, it was announced last week, early action applications for the Class of '86 dropped by about 50 to 1500.

Despite the decline in Harvard's pool, however, the pools at Princeton and Yale continued to grow. Princeton received about 200 more early applications this year--for a total of 1430--and Yale had about 50 more applications, bringing its total to 1150.

William R. Fitzsimmons '67, acting dean of admissions and financial aids, said last week that while Harvard's pool may have reached its saturation point, Princeton and Yale may have been underrated by applicants.

"Both schools are coming up to the levels they should have been at. The previous inbalance was really out of line," Fitzsimmons said, adding that he would not be surprised to see the pools at Princeton and Yale continue to grow faster than Harvard's.

Admissions officials from the three schools also suggested a few other possible explanations for the shift in applications:

--Some applicants who really want to attend Harvard may be more apt to apply early to Princeton, Yale or Brown because those schools have higher acceptance rates and provide a greater chance of early acceptance.

--Harvard's application decline may be a symptom of anticipated drops in the nation's teenage population, particularly in Massachusetts and New York, the two states from which Harvard draws the most applicants.