Undergraduate Applications Increase Again

For the seventh time in eight years, applications for admission to Harvard and Radcliffe have risen. According to the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid, 16,811 students have applied for the 1,650 places in the Class of 2002, compared to 16,597 for last year's freshman class.

According to Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid William R. Fitzsimmons, a variety of methods including broader and earlier staff travel, the strategic use of College Board-based search mailings, and the personal efforts of alumni and alumnae have combined to produce this impressive result.

"We are very grateful to everyone who has been a part of this cooperative effort and we should not forget the many students whose work with the Undergraduate Admissions Council, the Crimson Key, and the Undergraduate Minority Admissions Program is vital to successful outreach," said Fitzsimmons.

Geographic distribution remained generally similar to last year's, as did the academic fields in which applicants express interest. Of those, computer science, engineering, and physical sciences each show small but significant growth. Applications from minority students also remained at high levels.

The excellence of the applicant pool is even more remarkable than the number of candidates. By all the standard measures of academic talent, including test scores and academic performance in school, this year's group is extremely impressive. For example, more than 53 percent of the candidates averaged 1400 or higher on their SATs, nearly 1,900 scored a perfect 800 on their SAT math, and almost 2,700 were valedictorians of their high schools. Director of Admissions Marlyn McGrath Lewis observed that "we are very pleased to have attracted the interest -- again this year -- of such extraordinarily accomplished students. The Admissions Committee is faced with very tough choices."

In a year in which some other institutions have announced new financial aid policies to help them become more attractive to families with middle and lower incomes, Harvard and Radcliffe have emphasized that they remain as committed as ever to providing the financial support to enable any admitted student to attend.

James Miller, director of financial aid, reports that his office expects to distribute $80 million of financial aid next year to undergraduate students, in the form of scholarships, loans, and jobs. "We will work with each financial aid candidate on an individual basis and we will provide competitively supportive offers of financial aid in order to enable them to matriculate here," said Miller. Harvard and Radcliffe provide such aid to families with a wide range of income levels.

"Our policy of need-blind admissions combined with need-based aid is the foundation on which our recruitment program rests. It remains the critical ingredient in assembling student bodies of unsurpassed excellence," said Miller.

Decision letters will be mailed April 1.