Selective Admissions

Harvard admissions for the Class of 1980 were the most selective in the country, according to an informal survey conducted this week by students at Amherst College.

Harvard accepted 18.5 per cent of its applicants last year and 19 per cent this year. Amherst, this year's second most selective school, accepted 17.5 per cent of its applicants in 1975 and 20 per cent this year.

Mary Anne Schwalbe '55, director of admissions for Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges, said yesterday it is difficult to compare this year's numbers to last year's because prior to the merger of Harvard and Radcliffe's admissions offices, the two staffs used slightly different methods of computing figures.

Schwalbe said she was unable to confirm the Amherst report because she had not seen statistics from other colleges.