Women Applicants Yield Record Totals

A record number of applicants applied for admission to the Class of 1982, with sharp increases in the number of female applicants and the number of applicants from California, the admissions committee announced yesterday.

William R. Fitzsimmons '67, director of admissions, said this year's figures show the "largest total number of applicants and the largest number of women ever to apply." He added that there may be "several hundred more applications" that the committee has not yet received.

As of January 27, 12,201 applied for admission to the Class of '82, a substantial increase over last year's figure of 11,922, Fitzsimmons said. Of the applicants, 7792 are men and 4409 are women, yielding a male-to-female ratio of 1.77 to 1. Because of the increase in the number of female applicants, the ratio dropped from last year's 1.87 to 1.

The number of women applying to Harvard- Radcliffe has risen steadily since the Harvard and Radcliffe admissions committees were combined in 1975.

Good Job in the Field

Mary Anne Schwalbe '55, director of admissions, said an increase in the amount of traveling admissions officers did this year may have contributed to the increases. She added, "Alumni in the field do a good job" of recruiting students.

The number of applications from California increased to 1079, from 902 last year, with more still expected, Fitzsimmons said. There was also an increase in the number of applicants from the mountain states and the Northwest.

"We're very encouraged by what's been happening in California," Fitzsimmons said. He attributed the rise to the alumni organizations in California.

In other parts of the country the number of applicants stayed the same or rose slightly. In the Northeast the majority of increases were in the number of female applicants while the number of males remained approximately the same.

Canadian and foreign applicants totaled about the same as last year. Fitzsimmons said there are usually a "fair number of late applications" from foreign students, due to mailing problems and other complications.

The ratio between public and private school students seems to be about the same, Fitzsimmons said, adding the number of public school applicants in California may increase.

The Admissions Committee will not know how many minority students have applied until they complete reading the applications on February 22, Schwalbe said.

The applicants will compete for approximately 1600 positions. The male-female mix will "strictlydepend on who the best people are," Fitzsimmons said. In the past, the ratio of males to females admitted varied only slightly from the ratio of applicants