After
seven years of continuous decline in its admissions rate, Harvard College
announced Thursday that it has accepted 2,023, or 5.9 percent, of 34,295
students applying for admission to the Class of 2018—a slight increase from
previous years. At 5 p.m., the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid will
send emails to 1,031 regular applicants receiving offers. Nine hundred
ninety-two students were also admitted
to the class through the early action program. The admit rate for applicants
considered under regular decision, including the 3,197 early action candidates
who were deferred to regular decision, was 3.1 percent, down from last year’s
rate of 3.4 percent. Twenty-one percent of students who applied early action
were accepted in December. “The Class
of 2018 reflects the excellence achieved by the students of an increasingly
diverse America,” said Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid William R.
Fitzsimmons ’67 in a the
future leaders of our nation.”Those accepted to the Class of 2018 represent
record levels of diversity, with African American and Latino students
comprising 11.9 and 13 percent of the admitted students, respectively. Of
students offered admission to the class, 19.7 percent are Asian American and
1.9 percent are Native American or Native Hawaiian. International students
compose 10.5 percent of the class and 7.7 percent of admitted students are U.S.
dual citizens. Fitzsimmons said that more than 63 percent of admitted students
and 81 percent of admitted minority students appeared on College Board and ACT
search lists that Harvard uses to identify qualified potential applicants from
diverse backgrounds. Fifty-five percent of those admitted
are male. While Fitzsimmons said in an interview that the gender breakdown is
more tilted towards males than in previous years, he added that the Office of
Admissions received more applications from males than females. He also added
that growing interest in concentrations at the School of Engineering and
Applied Sciences that are more frequently studied by men than women, such as
engineering, physical science, mathematics, and computer science, have
generated more applications to Harvard from males. 7.9 percent of applicants opted to mark their prospective
concentration as undecided this year, more than double the three percent that
did so last year. In light of this increase, Fitzsimmons said that it is hard
to tell exactly how the the class breaks down in area of interest compared to
previous years. He did note that 90 students expressed interest in computer
science this year, compared to about 56 last year—a 60 percent increase. According to Fitzsimmons, early estimates indicate that
nearly 60 percent of those admitted will be awarded some type of financial aid
or assistance.
“Harvard’s revolutionary financial
aid program led a large number of our admitted students to apply,” Fitzsimmons
said. “Many were surprised to learn that for 90 percent of American families it
costs the same or less to come to Harvard compared to public universities.” The
acceptance letters are sealed by members of the Office of Admissions and
Financial Aid prior to being mailed off. Visitas—the College’s admitted students visit weekend which
was cancelled
last year in light of the Boston Marathon bombings—has been planned for the
last weekend in April. Fitzsimmons said that although the program did not occur
last year, the Admissions Office learned beneficial techniques to reach out to
students through social media. “It was a
very difficult time last year, but I think we learned a lot and some of our
students really stepped up,” Fitzsimmons said. “We are going to leverage that
enthusiasm and approach this year.” A
number of other Ivy League institutions are expected to release admissions
decisions Thursday. The University of Pennsylvania announced
yesterday that it admitted 9.9 percent of its 35,868 applicants, a record low
acceptance rate.
Students have until May 1 to accept
an admissions offer. http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2014/3/27/regular-admissions-class-2018/
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