Red Tape Marks Admissions

To 4000 prospective freshmen, the Harvard admissions office is in some nebulous place called Cambridge 38, Massachusetts, where a specially selected group of malevolent men meet with the express intent of turning down applications.

In addition to this misguided view of the office itself, many other factors help to create the aura of mystery which surrounds the entire admissions system of the College.

A prospective freshman can never be certain about what factors were involved in his ultimate acceptance or rejection, how large a part his interview played, or whether his letter of reference needed to come from the president of United States Steel.

Actually, there is little mystery involved in the admissions system, a system called the "most efficient in the country" by a member of the College Entrance Examination Board. This efficiency may be attributed to the efficiency with which each separate step in the entire process is carried out.

Secretaries Handle Preliminaries

Secretaries handle all the preliminary work done on an application before it is sent to a member of the Committee on Admissions for judgement. This preliminary work consists of checking the application to see whether it had been filled out completely and properly and whether the applicant plans to take the proper college boards.

If the application is complete, the secretaries code all its information in the margin. For instance, if the applicant is unmarried, they might put a number one in the margin; if married, a two. Other relevant material is coded in a similar manner, and the application is sent to the General Service Office in the basement of University Hall, where these numbers are fed into an always disinterested, but never inaccurate IBM machine. It quickly belches forth a white card containing all the information which the applicant had so pain-stakingly provided.

Its purpose is to case the job of sorting the applications. To divide them into different categories, by states for instance, entails feeding the cards back through the machine. It does the job quickly and efficiently.

The application, placed in a folder along with the preparatory school's report, correspondence, and the interviewer's report, will eventually be read by a member of the admissions board.

To unify the grading standards for each area, one board member reads the applications from that section of the country. Since he is familiar with the type of school and educational standards of that section, he is able to judge all the candidates on an equitable basis.

Eight Factors

As the board member reads an application, he judges the applicant on eight factors and rates him from one to six in each.

The first factor is a preliminary guess about the applicant's academic ability, which the judge makes after reviewing his preparatory school record.

An applicant who receives a rank of one is considered certain of attaining group one. If he is a probable honors candidate, he is rated two, and if only a possible honors candidate, he is given a three rating. A four rating is given to a candidate who, in the opinion of the judge, will obtain passing, but not honor grades, and the number five candidate is questionable. There is no hope for number six.

The candidate's record in extracurricular activities is the second factor taken into consideration. Again he is rated from one to six, according to the extent of his participation.

Candidates are also rated on their athletic records, personal qualities, the principal's report, and the report of the alumnus who interviewed him. If the applicant had been interviewed by one of the deans of admissions, that report is considered as a seventh category.

After rating the candidate in each of these categories, the board member reviews his entire application, including the ratings given the candidate, and he summarizes everything in an overall rating. Generally, an overall rating of three, along with a good college board score, is sufficient for admission.

The entire process is repeated by another member of the board, who does not see the ratings already given. Each application, with its two rating cards, is sent to David D. Henry '41, assistant dean of Admissions, who checks it. If there is a discrepancy in the two ratings on any factor, Henry adds his interpretation to the others.

Filed for Action

Along with the few which had been given identical ratings, he files them away to await action by the full Board of Admissions.

In the case of scholarship applications, five readings are required, four for rating and another as a financial survey.

During the last week in April, the full Board of Admissions, which is appointed for a one year term by McGeorge Bundy, dean of the Faculty, meets in daily sessions which often last into the night. A simple majority vote of this board is sufficient for admission.

The members of the board include Henry, John U. Monro '35, director of the Financial Aid Center, and Judson T. Shaplin '42, director of Freshman Scholarships. Others on the board Delar Leighton '19, dean of Students, F. Skiddy Von Stade '38, dean of Freshmen, Fredcrick B. Deknatol, William Dorr Boardman Professor of Fine Arts, L. Doslect, professor of Geology, Theodore Morrison '23, lecturer in English, Elliott Perkins '23, master of Lowell House, and Samuel A. Stouffer, professor of Sociology. Wilbur J. Bender '27, dean of Admissions, heads the group.

"Sons of Harvard alumni are not admitted automatically," said Henry, "despite what people think." However," he added, Harvard parentage will give an applicant preference over a candidate who is equal in other respects.

Geographical location is another factor which will give one applicant preference over another. According to Henry, a boy from the Mid-West or West has preference over an Easterner equal in other respects.

"We don't go out of our way to solicit good athletes," said Henry, "but if an exceptional athlete happens along we surely won't turn the other way."

In accordance with an agreement with Yale and Princeton, certificates of admissions are not issued before May 11. The certificate of admission with its stamped signature of Dean Bender is sent to several hundred more applicants than the board hopes will arrive in September.

Included among the 1,400 who receive these certificates are many to whom Harvard is a second choice or an after thought. These are generally enough to reduce the total admissions to 1125, the "ideal" number of admissions. According to Henry, the Board's estimates of how many will not accept their admissions have proved reasonably accurate. In recent years, the number has been from 25-100 more than the ideal number which the board hoped would show up. These few he termed insignificant