College Gets Few Men Into Harvard Law

The Law School views with concern a sharp drop in the number of Harvard graduates in its first-year class, Vice Dean Louis A. Toepfer said yesterday.

While the total size of the entering class rose by a fraction of a per cent from 1963, the number of Harvard graduates fell by 20 per cent, Toepfer said. The change reflects a drop of over 23 per cent in the number of Harvard men accepted last year, against a decline of only nine per cent in the number of Harvard applicants.

Toepfer, who is also director of admissions at the Law School, attributed the change in the makeup of the class to increasingly stiffer competition for a fixed number of places.

"We Wonder..."

"This is a problem we think about. We wonder what to do," he said. "We're certainly aware that we're part of the University, and I'm determined that [graduates of the College] will not be placed at a disadvantage." He did not specify, however, what steps, if any, the Law School might take.

In 1963, according to Toepfer, 2300 students--including 238 Harvard graduates--applied for admission to the Law School; this year, 2699--217 of them Harvard men--applied. The total number of applications thus rose by 17 per cent, and many Harvard students whose qualifications were merely good found themselves facing outstanding applicants from other schools.

Consequently, only 102 Harvard men were accepted this year, compared to 133 in 1963. Sixty-eight registered last month, down from 85 a year before.

Toepfer said "it is perfectly clear in our eyes" that a Harvard graduate 'has had a superb undergraduate education." "C's at Harvard," he explained, "mean something other than C's at Old Overshoes University."

Nevertheless, Harvard graduates are given no special consideration during the admissions process, and the admissions office does not even keep a running count of the number accepted, Toepfer said. "I was surprised to see that we came out where we did," he added.