Despite a shrinking pool of high school seniors nationwide, the number of applicants to the College increased by more than three percent over last year, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid William R. Fitzsimmons '67 said yesterday.

Although the Admissions Office has not processed all of the applications, the total number will probably settle at slightly more than 12,600, Fitzsimmons said. Last year, 12,190 students sought admission to the College.

Because of the recent decline in the number of high school seniors, Fitzsimmons said, he had expected the number of applications to the College to be between 11,000 and 11,500. A recent study by the College Board placed the decline in high school seniors nationwide at about 4.6 percent.

But Fitzsimmons added that he is not surprised that Harvard has fared better than national demographics might predict. "With the economic downturn, colleges that are well-known and that have strong financial aid programs will usually hold their own," he said.

Fitzsimmons also said increased recruiting efforts, more direct mailings to students and the Admissions Office's new policy of allowing students to substitute the American College Test (ACT) in place of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) may help account for this year's increase in applicants.

Fitzsimmons said recruiting efforts by undergraduates and direct mailings by the Admissions Office especially help explain the greater ethnic diversity in this year's group of applicants. The number of Asian-American candidates increased by 11 percent, Black applicants by 7.4 percent and Latino candidates by 2.5 percent, Fitzsimmons said.

This year's applicant pool also saw a 2.5 percent increase in the number of international students, Fitzsimmons said. He attributed this increase to recent efforts by the Admissions Office--which included a recruiting trip to Europe--as well as the University's overall campaign for internationalization.

"I think [Associate Dean for Internationalization Joseph S.] Nye's and [President Derek C.] Bok's efforts for internationalization have been helpful to us," Fitzsimmons said. "It shows that the University is committed to a more international student body."

Along with the growth in the ethnic and international diversity of the applicant pool came an increase in the geographic diversity within the national group of candidates. The number of applicants from the South increased by five percent, while the number of applicants from the West grew by six percent, Fitzsimmons said.

He said the increase in students applying from these regions may have come about because of the Admissions Office's new policy, approved by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences last year, of accepting the ACT.

This year's applicant pool also reflects a continued effort by the Admissions Office to recruit students interested in science, Fitzsimmons said, as a higher percentage of applicants this year expressed interest in the physical sciences, engineering and math.

Fitzsimmons said biology saw the biggest increase in popularity among applicants interested in science. Thirteen percent more students this year listed that discipline as a potential field of concentration, Fitzsimmons said.

The number of female applicants to the College also increased by 3.4 percent this year, Fitzsimmons said. He said the fact that the Admissions Office sent letters to female high school seniors who excel in science may account for part of the overall increase.