Class of 2000 Applications Set New Record

A record 18,037 high school seniors have applied for admission to the Class of 2000, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid William R. Fitzsimmons '67 said yesterday.

Although the total number of applicants increased for the sixth year in a row, regular applications actually decreased by 5 percent this winter.

A 31 percent increase in the number of early applicants offset the drop, resulting in an overall increase of 1 percent, the smallest rise since 1991.

The number of women and the number of women and the number of applicants from each geographical region remained about the same as previous years. The distribution of minorities in the applicant pool is not yet available, Fitzsimmons said.

He said the increase in the number of early applicants and the drop in regular applicants can be explained by the changes other top-tiered schools made to their early-admissions procedures this year.

"The change by Princeton and Yale to early decision [a program which requires accepted students to matriculate], has caused us to have fewer overlap students, fewer students who apply to all the Ivies," Fitzsimmons said.

Fitzsimmons said he suspects students may be more clear in their college choice because of the changes at other schools, and Harvard could get more than its usual 75 percent yield this spring.

Consequently, he said he expects the admissions committee to admit slightly fewer students and if the yield does not increase, the admissions office could take as many as one hundred from the waiting list.

Fitzsimmons said that Harvard is no considering changing its early action program.

Although the percentage of women remained about the same as last year, record 8,461 applied. Over the past four years the percentage of female applicants has increased, from 44.2 percent for the Class of 1997 to 46.9 percent for this year.

According to Fitzsimmons, 24.5 percent of the applicants came from the Mid-Atlantic region, 17.6 percent from the Pacific, 15.3 percent from the South, 14.8 percent from New England, 10.7 percent from foreign countries and 2.1 percent from Canada and the territories.

The number of New England applicants, which has dropped consistently over the past five years, experienced a 2 percent increase.

Fitzsimmons said that he was moderately optimistic about the rise in local applicants.

"It is very encouraging, particularly considering the efforts we made in New England this year," Fitzsimmons said. "This could be the sign of a rebound, but it takes three to five years for a trend.

Fitzsimmons said that he was moderately optimistic about the rise in local applicants.

"It is very encouraging, particularly considering the efforts we made in New England this year," Fitzsimmons said. "This could be the sign of a rebound, but it takes three to five years for a trend.