Admissions Process Is Diverse, Complex

Some say that the hardest thing about Harvard is getting in. Others might argue that isn't necessarily true. After all, classes and final exams are certainly difficult, but it is a fact that the Harvard admissions game is a complicated one, involving not only the applicant but scores of other concerned people as well.

From the perspective Admissions Office--and in the end that's the perspective that matters--the goal is to assemble what it considers to be a well-rounded and highly diverse freshman class. Admissions officer James Torre says, in fact, that only 15 to 20 percent of the class is accepted to Harvard based on academics alone. "Maybe six out of seven applicants are fully capable of doing the work." he says. "We're looking for a well rounded package."

And even if an applicant is particularlyacademically oriented, Dean of Admissions andFinancial Aids William R. Fitzsimmons '67 says,the group accepted is still a diverse one.

"Our strongest group is the all-aroundadmittees," Fitzsimmons says. "College admissionsoffices make it seem like a must that you have tobe a specialist in one field or another. That'snot true. There are, obviously, people who excelin certain areas, like academics, or music, orwhatever, but no one would get in on that alone."

Fitzsimmons says the office looks for threequalities in judging a well-rounded student:academics, extracurriculars, and personalcharacter.

"We want students who can contribute to studentlife and well-being in addition to performing wellin class," he says.

A brochure published by the Admissions Officealso states that it is interested in more thanstudents' secondary school achievements andtalents. Its text says that it seeks to attractcandidates who will contribute to the emotional and moralclimate of their undergraduate communities.

"We are keenly interested in attracting andadmitting candidates who not only give ample proofof academic prowess, but also show evidence ofsuch personal qualities as honesty, fairness,compassion, altruism, leadership, and initiativein their high school years," reads the pamphlet'stext. "We place great value in a candidate'scapacity to move beyond the limits of personalachievement to involvement in the life of thecommunity at large."

Developing such an ethical and diverse class isno easy process, however, and preparation for thenext year's applications and admissions policiesbegins months ahead of time during the summer. Thegoal is to attract as many applicants as possible,and the process involves dividing the nation andeven foreign territories into subcommittees whichare responsible for recruiting students from theirrespective regions. Though most admissionsofficers have graduated from college, some HarvardRadcliffe undergraduates help to recruitinterested minority students from around thenation.

Fitzsimmons says that in the past admissionsofficers have travelled to specific regions of thecountry to talk with guidance counselors, anxiousparents and students interested in the details ofHarvard life. And, while Fitzsimmons says theAdmissions Office does try to contact outstandingstudents and to target areas of the country that seemunderrepresented, he says that for the most part,the College tries to gain applicants from aroundthe globe.

"We concentrate all over the place,"Fitzsimmons said. "But we have tried to boost thenumber of students from the West. Ten or 15 yearsago we only had 600 or 700 applicants fromCalifornia, but now we have 2000. That's due todemographic shifts, but it's also due torecruiting."

And just as companies with products to sellhave to keep up with demographic shifts, so toodoes the Admissions Office. Fitzsimmons said theoffice has had to redirect its efforts because thenumber of 18-year-olds shifts around the countryfrom year to year. He says that overall, thenumber has been declining, but that the number hasdropped the most in New England and in theMid-Atlantic states.

He adds that by 1994, the number of college-agestudents in the nation will reach an all-time low,which may mean that it might be easier to get intocollege, but not necessarily into Harvard. For atthe same time, Fitzimmons notes, more studentsthan ever are applying to the Ivies.

"We look at the demographics and economicsyears in advance," the dean says. "Now we aretrying to recruit in the Mid-West and in theSouthwest, but that's difficult because eventhough the number of eligible 18-year-olds isstill high, the economy in the Mid-West with theauto and steel companies is bad, which makes ithard to finance an education, and in the Southwestthere are so many strong state schools, and thereseems to be a tradition of staying near the statefor college."

In fact, as part of the Admissions Office'sever-expanding recruitment efforts, Fitzsimmonssays that plans are underway to contact highschool seniors through the mail in order to piquetheir interest in the University.

In the fall the office will mail informationabout Harvard-Radcliffe to about 5000 students whohave high board scores and who have high gradepoint averages, he says, adding that admissionsofficers will also try to find out the students'interests from the guidance counselors.

The office plans to continue its minorityrecruiting program, which involves sending currentHarvard undergraduates around the country to talkto interested minority applicants.

Diana Rodriguez '89, who works as a minorityrecruiter for the Admissions Office says theundergraduates receive minority search lists fromaptitude tests and achievement tests and then tryto contact students they feel would make acontribution to Harvard. They then decide whatsecondary schools to visit based on the number ofinterested minority applicants and the AdmissionsOffice's past experiences with those schools.

"We make two trips. We go in the fall and inthe spring, mainly to large areas of applicationlike California and Florida. We find out who theinterested students are, and we hold meetings todiscuss what they need to do to apply, like takethe SAT, etc," she says. "It's good for us to talkto them, because especially if we are from thesame city, we have something in common and canreassure them that we like school and that theymight as well."

Rodriguez says that she recruits where shelives, New York City, where many minority studentsare really not aware of higher educationalopportunities and that she works to make themaware of Harvard as well as of collegeopportunities in general.

"We want them to know that there is life afterhigh school, and that they can apply to college,"said Rodriguez. "In a sense we serve as advisors,getting in touch with them over the year to seehow their senior year and how their collegeapplication is going."

Once students complete the applications,however, the work is not over, for the admissionsoffice or for the student. For the applicant'spart, he or she must try to maintain his or heracademic and extracurricular performance, but forthe Admissions Office the arduous task of paringdown the 14,000 applicants into 2000 diverseacceptances begins.

Fitzsimmons says that once his office receivesthe application, at least three people read itbefore coming to any acceptance decision. Oneperson, who represents the applicant's region,serves as an advocate for the people from thatarea, and is also a member of a subcommittee,which, depending on the number and quality of theapplicants from an area, makes recommendations tothe final decision committee.

"A lot of times we have faculty as well asadmissions officers coming in to readapplications," Fitzsimmons said. "If a student hassent us some computer program or music tape, andwe want to know the quality of that sample, we aska professor to look at it. They include theirwritten opinions along with the other threereaders."

Occasionally the officers ask students toresubmit various parts of their applications, inorder to facilitate the decision process. Becausethe various committees and subcommittees are knownto debate applicants for days at a time, extrainfomation, such as another essay or secondsemester grades can make a significant differencein helping narrow the semi-definite acceptee groupto a specific number per region.

Fitzsimmons says that once the target number ofapplications has been sent from the subcommittee,they join those of the full committee, a body of30 to 40 people, that votes on the remainingapplications.

He says each application is thoroughly reviewedagain, and then elections are held. The officersmust choose the final 2200 acceptances, whichoften means eliminating several students who hadbeen elected by the entire committee. This yearthe college had to eliminate an extra 209 from thesemi-final figure.

Once the black and crimson acceptance papersare mailed, the office waits for the May 1responses before deciding on admitting studentsfrom the wait lists. Some years no one gets in offthe wait list at all, but usually there are a fewstudents who, once deferred, gain acceptance in asecond round of admissions conferences.

And while many applicants will inevitably endup disappointed, they have at least one reason tobe happy--the process of applying is over. For theAdmissions Office, though, the whole arduousprocedure starts up again.The pathway to...Harvard