Early Admissions Program Accepts More Minorities

The College has accepted more minority students through the early admissions program this year than in any previous year, William R. Fitzsimmons '67, director of admissions, said yesterday.

Ninety-one of the 569 candidates who were notified Jan. 1 of their early acceptance to the Class of '83 are minority students, Fitzsimmons said.

Specific figures for the number of minority students admitted through the program in previous years were not available yesterday.

Fitzsimmons attributed the rise in minority acceptances to a sharp rise in the number of minority students who applied through the early admit program this year. He did not quote specific figures, however.

L. Fred Jewett '57, dean of admissions, said the high degree of minority interest this year was "unusual and gratifying."

Although last year's final minority admission figure was 18.8 per cent, or 413 of the 2195 admitted to the Class of '82, very few minorities applied through the early action program, he said.

"Students from disadvantaged backgrounds tend to apply late in the year," Jewett added.

Jewett said the early admissions applicants are generally a "very strong group" and tend to include a higher proportion of alumni children and students from metropolitan and suburban areas than does the admitted group as a whole.

"Minority students don't know and don't hear about early admissions," Felix Torres '79, of La Organizacion Estudianto Boricia de Harvard-Radcliffe, said yesterday.

The group, which aids in recruiting Puerto Rican students for Harvard, has been dissatisfied with early admission results in the past, Torres said. However, this year recruiting was better and more efficient than in the past and members of the group are more satisfied with the results, he added.

Early action program applicants must submit complete applications by Nov. 1, and the admissions office notifies them of their acceptance, rejection, or deferral by Jan. 1.

Generally, about 30 per cent of the early admission applicants are admitted, compared to the 17 per-cent admission rate for the candidates as a whole, Fitz-simmons said. About 85 per cent of the early admits accept admission, as compared to about 75 per cent of the total group, he added