Half of Eligible Freshmen Reject Chance For Sophomore Standing

A record-breaking percentage of freshmen eligible for sophomore standing decided to reaming part of the Class of '69, Edward T. Wilcox, director of advanced standing, said in an interview yesterday.

Of the 210 students offered advanced placement, 113 -- or about 54 per cent -- turned it down. Last year, only 41 per cent of the students offered the chance to skip a year chose not to do so.

Wilcox attributed part of the decline in acceptances to what he called "the end of the elitist period." "There isn't any particular glamour attached to starting as a sophomore, and that takes pressure off people who might accept because it is the "thing to do,'" he added.

Improved Counseling

An improvement in the freshman counseling system may have also contributed to the rise in rejections, Wilcox noted. Freshmen with sophomore standing were assigned to special proctors this year. Wilcox then met with these proctors and explained the details of the advanced placement program. "I think we did a better job of giving people the facts," he said.

The drop-off in acceptances will probably not trigger any drastic revision of the ten-year-old program. "I am basically pleased with what has happened," Wilcox said. "I think it is the result of careful, sensible educational judgement." Wilcox said the program had stabilized, but he felt there should still be a way for a student at Harvard to "get directly to hid field of study."

The advanced placement program began at Harvard in 1955 when two students were offered sophomore standing. Both of them accepted. Last year 526 students received some A.P. credit -- though only 190 of them passed the three tests required for sophomore standing. The program was originally intended to serve as an incentive to secondary schools to up-grade their curriculum.