The Admissions Office received an unprecedented 20,986 applications this year, surpassing last year’s record number of 19,605 and making this the twelfth year out of the past thirteen that the number of applications to the College has risen.
Fitzsimmons notes that a “record number” of 247 deferred Early Action applicants out of approximately 6,000 were offered admission.
Fitzsimmons attributes the consistent rise in application volume to vigorous recruiting efforts.
“There is no college that is more aggressive in its recruiting than Harvard,” he said. “Over time, if you want to be effective, you want to develop a personal relationship with counselors and teachers in schools—that’s what works best in the long run. But you have to keep going back every year.”
The pool of admitted students is slightly more international than last year, with 15.1 percent being classified as either foreign citizens, U.S. dual citizens or U.S. permanent residents, up from 14.2 percent last year.
Though legislation enacted in the aftermath of Sept. 11 has left some international students without visas and unable to enter the country, Fitzsimmons said he does not see this emerging as a large threat to yields and says that potential visa problems do not affect international recruiting or admissions.
“We face the same fears as all other institutions. We have a very attractive need-blind package,” Fitzsimmons says. “We are just keeping our fingers crossed.”
He adds that the Harvard International Office is working with other universities to address the difficulties international students may have in getting into the county.
Out of all the applicants, 78 percent of students elected to receive e-mail notification of admissions decisions, the second year this service was offered. E-mails were sent out yesterday between 5 and 9 p.m.
The admissions office decided to send the e-mails later in the day to accommodate complaints from high schools whose students constantly checked e-mail during the school day last year, when the e-mails were sent in the mid-afternoon.