Freshman Applications Thus Far Have Risen 42% Above Last Year

Applications to Harvard College for next year's Freshman class have risen 42 per cent over applications received at this time last year.

As of November 18, 2604 people had applied for the class of '73, of whom 1331 requested financial aid. At this time last year, there were 1896 applicants, of whom 1013 asked for scholarships.

Chase N. Peterson '52, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aids to Students in Harvard College, attributed the unexpected increase to greater efficiency. "We made real efforts to streamline the mechanics of our program."

David K. Smith, '58, Director of Admissions in Harvard College, offered three reasons for this dramatic rise:

* applications were processed and sent out earlier than in other years,

*in schools where ABC ratings are given, a student now must file a complete application before receiving a rating,

* the date suggested for submitting applications has been moved from November 15 to November 1.

Smith said that "in terms of national statistics, there are no reasons" for the application increase. He said that last year, the admissions office expected 7600 applications for the class of '73. He speculated that the actual total will be about 8000.

Geography

"The first thing to look at is geography," Peter K. Gunness '57, Director of the Financial Aid Office of Harvard College, said. He compared the mailing of applications with election returns, in which results come in last from the rural and Southern areas of the country. He said that the suburban and prep school students are counseled better than applicants from lower income groups so that the former would tend to send in applications earlier. He added that the growth of suburbia contributes to the rise in applications.

Gunness said that he expects the number of scholarship applications to rise because of the tuition increase. He added that he hoped that the budget of the College will be able to accommodate this rise in scholarship applicants.