'63 Acceptances Hit Record Peak; Freshman Seminar Plans Outlined

An unprecedented acceptance rate set by members of the incoming Class of 1963 has put unexpected pressure on the College Admissions Office, according to Dean Bender.

The Admissions Committee, extrapolating from acceptance rates over the past few years, was anticipating a rate of about 75 per cent, but as of Friday the rate was running over 82 per cent. Bender pointed out, however, that there would probably be a slight drop on the last day of acceptance (today), when most of those who have not been accepted will move into the reject category.

Nevertheless, the rate will almost certainly be well above the expected one, and this will probably mean that the College will not be able to take any men from the waiting list, for the first time in the Admissions Office history.

As it stands now, the Class of 1963 will have slightly over 1200 students, 50 of whom will be commuters. This figure is actually slightly lower than the "top" figure, which was set at about 1220 by Dean Bundy in late April, when the Admissions Committee began its task of evaluating its thousands of applicants.

This year's Admissions Committee deliberations were unusual in two respects. For the first time in recent years, the Committee did not have a definite numerical goal to aim for, with Bundy calling for an increase of "at least 50" and not more than 75. Also, the so-called "forced commuter" was eliminated from the Committee's consideration, so that the 50 commuters in the Class of 1963 will be those who prefer living at home.