As graduate school application deadlines approach, the number of students applying to the Law School is up by almost 10 percent, and the number of applicants to the Medical School has dropped by an equivalent percentage.
Dr Oglesby Paul, the Med School's director of admissions, attributed the drop to the upward spiraling cost of medical school and to a general concern that the market is currently being flooded with doctors.
But Jane Thompson, assistant director of admissions at the Law School, said she had "no idea" about the reason for the upward trend in law school applications She said "every time we raise our application fee, we have a higher application rate." Thompson added that they would actually be pleased if fewer people applied.
B-School
The Business School has set new requirements to limit the number of applications. It no longer accepts applicants who took the GMAT as late as the March testing date, Douglas C. Braithwaite, director of admissions for the Business School, said yesterday.
The Business School has found that people who waited to take the GMATs in March were generally less qualified and had lower GMAT scores anyway. Braithwaite said, adding that these people seemed to take the GMAT only as an afterthought
Each year, we have to turn down nine out of ten people who apply. With these guidelines, we want to encourage only the very well-qualified and the most thoughtful to apply," he added
By the end of last week, the Law School admissions office had received 7368 applications, compared with 6720 application at the same point last year. Thompson said. Before this year, the highest previous figure was 7320 applications in 1978, to be well-surpassed with this year's member of applications, Thompson added.
The total number of application for the September 1982 class at the Medical School, fell to 3600 from last year's total of 4000, Paul said.
The Business School, currently only half-way through its admissions process, has received 4600 applicants, slightly under the 4900 applicants at this time last year.
The tuition at Harvard's Law School is an average of $1000 lower than at other comparable private law schools around the country in part due to its large endowment. Molly Geraghty, dean of admissions at the Law School, said yesterday.
But Geraghty said she did not see this as a reason for the higher level of applicants. Other Law Schools are also experiencing a 10- to 15-percent increase in their applications, she added
