Joy D. Jones would have been a member of the Class of 1997 next fall, but she turned down Harvard's admission offer because she thought the campus would be hostile to her as a Black student.

"I felt people there would look at me and think I'm only there because of affirmative action," says Jones, a resident of Los Angeles, who will be attending Duke University in the fall. "That's something I would have to deal with everyday of my life."

Aggressive recuiting and what she perceived to be a more tolerant campus led her to choose Duke, Jones says. A National Merit Scholarship finalist, a commended student in the Outstanding Achievement for Negroes Award and president of her school's African American Culture Club, Jones was recruited heavily by an array of top schools and was a hot commodity in the competitive college market for the limited pool of highly sought-after Black students.

With offers of all-expense paid campus visits, assorted merit-based scholarships and campus environments perceived as more welcoming, colleges across the country are wooing students like Jones away from Ivy League institutions like Harvard, which refuse to enter the new bidding war of the college market. If Harvard wants to maintain its commitment to enrolling the most talented students, it may have to adjust to the new rules of the admissions game.

Harvard's track record on attracting Black students has been less than exemplary. Numbers of Black matriculants have remained stagnant over the past decade despite increased recruiting efforts. But last year, the number of Black matriculants dipped precipitously to 95 for the Class of 1996, the lowest number since the Col- lege instituted affirmative action admissions policies in 1969.

The Class of 1997, however, marks a dramatic turnaround from last year. A record high 143 Blacks will join the Harvard first year class in September.

Intense recruiting efforts boosted the applicant pool and number of matriculants, according to Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid William R. Fitzsimmons '67.

A newly instituted second-phase search program specially targeted Black students based on Scholastic Aptitude Test scores after the first round search based on Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test. Probably as a result of this search, the Black applicant pool this year grew to 845 compared to 690 last year. After the acceptance letters were mailed out, undergraduate volunteers called minority admits to allay fears and answer questions.

Nevertheless, this year's record matriculation of Black students may be little more than breaking even. Throughout most of the 1980s, the number of Black students in a class hovered above 130. This year's record figure beats the old mark set by the Class of 1992 by only five students.

Thirteen Black students admitted to the Class of 1997 interviewed last week say the admissions offices' increased efforts have not advanced Harvard's standing in the bidding war. A single letter or phone call can't compete with flashy free trips, generous aid packages and the reassurance that Black students are welcome on campus, according to current and prospective Black students interviewed.

How much increased pre-application recruitment is directly responsible for the higher number of matriculating Black students remains unclear. The fact remains: Harvard admitted 214 Blacks, the highest-ever number in a given year, but these offers were accepted by only a slightly above-average number of students. The problems, according to students and admissions counselors, are three-fold:

* Harvard's image as a racially charged campus discourages. Black admits from matriculating; in fact, some of the prospective first-years interviewed last week say they have already encountered overt racism on the Harvard campus.

* Harvard fails to retain students who have been accepted, since it does not pay for air tickets and roll out the red carpet for prospective Black students.

* Perhaps most significantly, Harvard has need-blind admissions and need-based financial and, which limits its competitiveness against institutions like Duke, which are similarly deep-pocketed but are more willing to fund full scholarships.

An Image of Intolerance

The value of the Harvard name and its annual number one ranking in the U.S. News and World Report college ratings attracts students into the applicant pool with the promise of prestige and access to the inner sanctum of the Ivy League.