For the eighth time in nine years, applications for admission to Harvard and Radcliffe have risen. Last year 16,818 students applied for the 1,650 places in the entering class. Applications increased almost 8 percent, nearly matching the record 18,183 applications for the Class of 2000, and surpassing the 3 percent rise in the number of high school seniors nationally.

"The excellence of the applicant pool was unprecedented," said William R. Fitzsimmons, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid. "The percentage of admitted students was the lowest in our history (11.3 percent), and the Admissions Committee was faced with the difficult task of choosing the Class from among a large number of superbly qualified candidates."

By all the standard measures of academic talent, including test scores and academic performance in school, this year's applicant pool was impressive. For example, 55 percent of the candidates averaged 1400 or higher on the SATs, more than 1,900 scored a perfect 800 on their SAT verbal, nearly 2,000 scored an 800 on their SAT math test, and 2,900 were valedictorians of their high school classes.

"We were very pleased to have attracted the interest again this year of such extraordinary students," Fitzsimmons observed. "Harder to quantify, but perhaps even more remarkable, are the special personal qualities they bring, and their many extracurricular and personal accomplishments will also greatly enrich the life of the College."

New Financial Aid Program

Harvard's new financial aid program, announced in September by Dean Jeremy R. Knowles, had much to do with the increase in applications this year, according to Fitzsimmons. "We had a great deal of positive feedback about it during our recruiting trips this fall. Prospective applicants visiting Cambridge also heard good things from our current undergraduates about the freedom and flexibility the program offers."

The new financial aid program gave scholarship students an additional $2,000 per year in need-based grants, which they could use to reduce loan and/or job expectations. In addition, students were allowed to use the full amount of scholarships won from non-Harvard sources to reduce further or even eliminate loan and job requirements. These new benefits were extended not just to prospective students but to all current undergraduates. Nearly 2,000 undergraduates receiving outside awards have been able to use those awards to reduce their loan and job requirements. And more than 150 have won so much in outside scholarships that they have completely eliminated the annual term-time work and loan requirements. Over four years such students stand to save $25,000 or more in loan and work expectations.

James S. Miller, director of financial aid, reported that more prospective students than ever before have contacted his office to ask about financial aid opportunities. "Since Dean Knowles' announcement in September, large numbers of students and their families have contacted us to learn more about the new program. Our current students, the first beneficiaries of the program, have also spoken with prospective students about the additional time students now have to pursue their academic and extracurricular opportunities, as well as the option of reducing loan requirements. Students appreciate particularly that their graduate school and career plans will not be encumbered by loan debt thanks to the new program.

"We will work with each financial aid candidate on an individual basis, and we will provide supportive offers of financial aid in order to enable them to matriculate here," Miller said. 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."

Approximately 47 percent of undergraduates this year will receive scholarship support. More than $53 million will be devoted to scholarship aid, 93 percent of which comes from University resources. About two-thirds of undergraduates will be eligible for some form of financial aid. The average annual grant will be larger than $17,000 with a total aid package (including scholarships and jobs) of more than $22,000.

Miller said the College Access Plan continues to ensure that students from all economic backgrounds, including low-and middle- income families, will have access to a Harvard and Radcliffe education. The Plan offers a wide range of scholarships, loans, jobs, and payment options, including the opportunity to prepay tuition at current rates or to extend payments for up to 15 years.

"Other forms of financial assistance, such as the Faculty Aide Program and the Harvard College Research Program, enable undergraduates to pursue special research interests in close partnerships with faculty members," he said. Miller reports that his office expects to distribute more than $90 million of financial aid next year to undergraduate students in the form of scholarships, loans, and jobs. Financial aid officers will be available on the telephone weekdays from 8 a.m.-8 p.m. in April to talk with admitted students and their families.

Comprehensive Recruitment

Director of Admissions Marlyn McGrath Lewis reported that the cumulative effects of stepped-up recruiting over the past 10 years have been critical in attracting strong applicants. "Applicants continue to respond favorably to the excellence of the Harvard faculty, to the many academic opportunities (including "cutting-edge" facilities for research and scholarship), and to the presence of outstanding undergraduates," she said.

Over the past decade, a variety of methods has been used to inform prospective students about the unsurpassed opportunities at Harvard, the many new and refurbished academic, athletic, and dormitory facilities, and the continuing attractions of Boston and Cambridge. "Broader and earlier staff travel, the strategic use of College Board-based search mailings, increased faculty involvement, and the personal efforts of alumni and alumnae have combined to produce impressive results," continued Lewis.

"We are very grateful to everyone who has been a part of this cooperative effort -- including the many students whose work with the Undergraduate Admissions Council, the Crimson Key, and the Undergraduate Minority Admissions Program is vital to successful outreach. We also want to thank the students who work term-time in our office and assist us with many facets of our daily work," she said.

Women did extremely well in the admissions competition, once again tying the previous record of 48.5 percent set by the Class of 2001. For years, special efforts have been made to recruit outstanding women, and this year's results again demonstrate the effectiveness of those efforts.

Areas of academic interest remained much the same as those of the Class of 2002. The humanities and biology led the way, with about 25 percent of the class each. Nearly 22 percent lean toward the social sciences, 12 percent toward engineering and computer science, almost 9 percent are interested in the physical sciences, 7 percent in mathematics, and 1 percent are undecided.

Asian Americans comprise 16.4 percent of the admitted group; African Americans, 9.8 percent; Mexican Americans, 3.5 percent; Hispanic Americans, 3.4 percent; Puerto Ricans, 1.7 percent; and Native Americans, 1 percent. "This year's admitted group is extremely impressive, and we are very pleased with the results of our recruitment efforts for the Class of 2003," said Director of Undergraduate Minority Recruiting Roger Banks. "We are particularly grateful to the many undergraduates and alumni and alumnae who made a real difference throughout the year in reaching out to promising candidates," said Banks.

A Visiting Program for admitted students is scheduled for April 24-26. Events will include faculty panel discussions, concerts, receptions, department open houses, symposia, and activities offered by extracurricular organizations. "The program will give students the chance not only to attend classes, to meet faculty, and to experience college life here firsthand, but also to meet the people who will be their future classmates," said coordinator Macy Hale Lenox. "Over 1,200 admitted students will visit during the month of April, 1,000 or more during the Visiting Program. Undergraduates do a marvelous job of hosting our visitors and we cannot thank them enough for everything they do," she said.

Fitzsimmons emphasized the many contributions of the teaching faculty to the admissions process. "Faculty members have been an integral part of the recruitment and selection process for the Class of 2003," he said. "Their accessibility throughout the year to prospective applicants helps to ensure the future of the College."

Lewis observed that the Faculty Committee was called upon more than ever before to assist in the difficult task of making the final admissions decisions on the 18,160 applicants. Members of the teaching faculty serving on the Admissions Committee are Gary Feldman, Benedict Gross, Patrick Ford, J. Woodland Hastings, Richard Holm, Harry Lewis, Wilfried Schmid, Werner Sollors, Nancy Sommers, Frans Spaepen, William Todd, Helen Vendler, and Robert Woollacott.

Admitted students have until May 1 to reply to their offers.