Early this month, 3,911 high school seniors applied to the College's early action program, just topping last fall's record of 3,909 early applicants, according to figures released Friday night by the Admissions Office.

"It appears that we may be finally witnessing a leveling off of a long upward trend toward more students applying to college early in their senior year," William R. Fitzsimmons '67, dean of admissions and financial aid, said in a statement.

Officials said they suspect high school students and guidance counselors may have decided to take more time to make decisions.

"The most likely cause for the leveling off of early applications is that people have gotten savvy and relatively calm about early applications," Director of Admissions Marlyn McGrath Lewis '70-'73 said in an interview yesterday.

Last fall, the number of early applications jumped by nearly 1,000, from 2,990. It was the seventh straight increase in the early applicant pool since 1989.

After last year's growth in application numbers, which several comparable institutions also experienced, there was speculation in the press and among admissions officers that soon, "everyone in the country would apply early," Lewis said.

Harvard's increase last year, however, coincided with the decision of both Yale and Princeton Universities to switch to a binding early decision program.

Harvard's early action program is non-binding and thus more attractive to undecided students.

Although the early admission decisions have not all been made, Lewis said that the applicant pool appears to be very strong.

No Clear Trend

Among the few colleges which have also released their early application statistics, there is no clear increase or decrease from last year's numbers.

The admissions office at Dartmouth College has released figures showing a 5 percent rise in the number of early applicants, from 1,247 to 1,310.

But the University of Pennsylvania has seen a 10.4 percent decrease in its early applicant pool, from 2,046 last fall to 1,832 this year.

Brown University, which offers an early action admission program similar to Harvard's, has not yet released its figures. But officials indicated that the early applicant pool includes more than 3,000 students, a record high for that university and an 18 percent increase from last year