Applicant Pool Shifts Westward

This year's number of Harvard applicants remained almost unchanged from last year, although there was a "dramatic" rise in the proportion of applicants from western states, according to officials in the admission office.

The West saw a nine percent increase in applicants, including a 10 percent upsurge in California, said Director of Admissions Laura G. Fisher.

Although exact figures have not yet been tabulated, Fisher said there was also a "substantial increase in the number of minority applicants across the board."

Compared to the total of 13,615 applicants last year, 13,490 students are vying for spots in the class of 1990, a decline of less than one percent, Fisher said.

The New England states saw only a slight drop in applications, despite a decrease in the region's high school population, she said.

But overall the entire eastern seaboard saw a decline in the number of applicants for the 1600 slots in next year's freshmen class.

Admissions administrators were urprised by the western shift, which hey do not attribute to any new effort on their part.

But Fisher said that the hard work of the minority recruitment staff played a crucial role in the increase in the number of minority applicants.

Other Ivy League schools saw similarly small changes in the size of their applicant pools.

The number of students seeking admission at Brown was "consistent with past years," according to Nancy L. Harley, associate director of admissions.

With 12,730 applicants, Brown was unable to top Harvard in applications as it did both last year and three years ago.

Yale saw a small rise in number of applications, bringing its total draw up to its 1984 level, said Margit A. Dahl, director of undergraduate admissions at the New Haven school.

The admissions statistics also revealed a small increase in the proportion of women applying to Harvard, with the pool rising from 5599 to 5630 applications.