A record number of eager high school seniors have applied for early admission to Harvard, Byerly Hall officials said yesterday.

The number of early applicants rose for the fifth straight year, as 2087 students--4 percent more than last year--deciding they couldn't wait until April for that magical letter of acceptance.

Around the Ivy League, Harvard once again came out in front of its early action rivals. This year Yale received 1504 early applications, and Princeton 1860, admissions officials there said. Brown administrators estimated that between 1700 and 1800 students had applied there early, although they said they did not have the exact figures available. yet.

"We've had a fairly steady increase over the past four years, so it's really part of a long-term trend," said Harvard Dean of Admissions William R. Fitzsimmons '67.

"Students and college counselors are getting a better sense of exactly what kinds of credentials it takes to be admitted early," Fitzsimmons said.

Coming off a banner year this year, and a bumper crop of early admits following Harvard's 350th celebration last year, the University may have reached its peak in early action applications. "We may expect next year to see some declines," Fitzsimmons said yesterday.

Among Ivy League schools with binding early decision programs, Cornell received 1918 early applications, Pennsylvania received 1500, Columbia received 420, admissions officers said this past week. Officials at Dartmouth said they had not tabulated their application figures yet.

Under the early action program, which was instituted at Harvard in the mid-1970s, high school students submit their applications by November 1, two months before the normal January deadline, and learn their fate in mid-December, four months before regular acceptance letters are sent.

In 1980, Harvard signed an agreement with Yale, Princeton, and Brown that made admission non-binding on accepted, but stipulated that students could apply to only of the schools early.

Although Fitzsimmons said that the number of early applications from minority students this year was "an all-time record," the percentage of minority applications did not change substantially this year, remaining at 25 percent.

The 411 Asian-Americans who applied early this year make up 20 percent of the early pool, nearly the same proportion as last year.

Sixty-seven Blacks applied early this year, compared to 51 last year. Meanwhile, 60 applications came from Hispanic students, down six from last year, and six applications came from Native Americans, one less than last year.

With the exception of Asian-Americans, Fitzsimmons said, "the number of early applications from minority students traditionally has been small." He attributed the low number of minority applicants to a lack of access to college counseling at the nation's secondary schools.

Letters of acceptance, rejection, or deferral are scheduled to go out to applicants on December 17, and Fitzsimmons said his office is "already reading the folders."

Fitzsimmons said "we have no idea how many we'll end up taking" among this year's early applicants. Last year, 691 out of the 2003 early applicants were accepted. In 1985, Harvard accepted 558 out of its 1822 early applicants.

"The ultimate decision on a candidate will be the same regardless of when the students apply," Fitzsimmons said.

In a typical year, 95 percent of those students admitted early end up matriculating, while "between 15 and 20 percent of those students deferred get in later on," Fitzsimmons said.