It happened again.

After more than the predicted number of students decided to become members of the Class of '83, the admissions office performed some mathematical computations to make sure the same thing would not happen to the Class of '84.

This time around, the committee admitted 2148 students, 100 fewer than last year. Even so, preliminary figures indicated that a recored number of students have decided to attend Harvard next year--about 77 per cent of those accepted, compared to the normal 73 or 74 per cent.

Three of the students who decided to come to Cambridge are from the People's Republic of China, the first from that country to apply for undergraduate admission. A fourth Chinese student was accepted but turned Harvard down for Stanford.

While the number of regular admissions applications increased this year, the number of early applications declined by about 250; officials attributed the decline to a new rule, adopted by four of the Ivy League schools, that says students can only apply to one college under the early action plan.