Sex Ratio Climbs for Class of '83

The male-female sex ratio in the Class of '83 will rise to 1.89:1 because of an unexpectedly high number of men accepting admission, an admissions official said yesterday.

William R. Fitzsimmons, director of admissions, said 76 per cent of the men accepted to the Class of '83 will be attending, compared to 73 per cent of the women. The sex ratio for the Class of '82 was 1.74 to 1.

Minorities

Better recruiting and increased use of the College Board search services led to the "overall best year of minority admissions," Fitzsimmons said, adding that he hopes recruiting by minority students will have a "positive snowball effect," especially among Spanish-speaking students.

About 20 per cent of the Class of '83 is composed of minority students. Asian-American students will represent about 5 per cent of the incoming freshmen, blacks about 9 per cent, Puerto Ricans, Chicanos and Hispanic students slightly more than 5 per cent and Native Americans slightly less than 1 per cent, Fitzsimmons said.

For the first time, a higher percentage of women than men in the Class of '83 will receive scholarships. Forty-two per cent of women will receive aid from Radcliffe while 41 per cent of men will get aid from Harvard.

Aid to women has been climbing steadily the past few years, Fitzsimmons said. Ten years ago about 30 per cent of women at Radcliffe received scholarship aid, he added. Scholarship money for women comes from Radcliffe, while men get aid from Harvard.

Sign 'Em Up

More extensive recruiting, especially by women, has resulted in a higher number of applications from women who might not otherwise have considered coming to Harvard and who need scholarships, Fitzsimmons said.

Almost two-thirds of the Class of '83 is receiving aid from jobs, loans, outside awards or scholarship, he added.

The Class of '83 is expected to have 1093 men and 587 women, but the figures are not final yet. The class will have about 40 members more than the Class of '82.

The additional students should not cause a housing crunch, Susan W. Lewis, assistant dean of freshmen, said yesterday. Renovations to Hurlbut Hall have added room for 16 additional students, she said. Forty-nine freshmen will live off-campus, she added.

Harvard received 13,100 applications for the freshman class and accepted 2200.

Applications have reached record heights over the past four years. "We're right at the very end of the baby boom," Fitzsimmons said.

Fitzsimmons predicted a drop of applications from 14 to 24 per cent within the next few years at colleges nationwide. "Harvard should be affected by the national trend, but we can't tell how much," he added.

Two-thirds of the Class of '83 comes from public high schools, while the other third attended private or parochial schools. About 5 per cent of the class are foreign students.

On housing applications 64 students said they smoke, a figure up slightly from past years.

Housing officials separate students by sex and smoking preferences. "We try to put as many diverse types as possible in entries," Lewis said, adding "But if you have one ornithology student and one ornithologist proctor, you try to match them."

The Class of '83 shows a slight increase in business interests over the past few classes, Lewis said. About 17 per cent of the class is pre-med, and about 15 per cent is pre-law, she added. Nearly 35 per cent of the class has not yet decided on a career