Harvard accepts 992 early action applicants for class of 2018

Harvard College accepted just over 21 percent of the 4,692 early applicants to the Class of 2018, the College announced Friday, the highest early action acceptance rate since Harvard reinstated the program in 2011 after a four-year hiatus.

This year’s 992 early acceptances represent nearly an 11 percent increase over the number of prospective students accepted early last year.

“This year’s applicants are remarkable by any standard.  Their academic and extracurricular strengths are impressive—as is their ethnic, economic, and geographic diversity,” Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid William R. Fitzsimmons ’67 said in a press release.

The pool from which this year’s early admits were drawn decreased in size by 3 percent after a 15 percent increase between 2011 and 2012.

Fitzsimmons said in the press release that he was happy to see the pool size stabilize this year.

“The ‘early frenzy’, as some have referred to it, adds pressure to a generation that is already stressed by high expectations and economic uncertainty,” he said.

Of the 4,692 applicants, 3,197 were deferred to the regular action decision process, 366 were denied admission, 18 withdrew, and 115 submitted incomplete applications.

—Check TheCrimson.com for updates.

—Staff writer Zohra D. Yaqhubi can be reached at zohra.yaqhubi@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter at @zohradyaqhubi.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2013/12/13/early-admissions-rate-rises/