Few Students Enter College On Early Plan

The College's early admission program, which enables exceptional students to come to Harvard after their junior year in high school, has turned out to be of limited use, Fred L. Glimp '50, Dean of Admissions, said recently.

Despite the difficulties affecting the program, Glimp and Edward T. Wilcox, Director of the Office of Advanced Standing, both maintained that it will definitely not be abandoned.

Glimp admitted, "The program isn't taking hold." Only five high school juniors were admitted this year, and three actually registered in September.

He pointed out three reasons for the small number of admissions; most juniors are relatively immature; they stand to benefit by a fourth year in high school; and they are not strong enough to compete with the regular candidates.

Furthermore, Wilcox noted, the candidate for early admission is in a difficult position during the selection process. "Unless you put a quota on earlies, they're going to have trouble at the end," he said. "When the admissions committee is trying to cut 60 people out of the freshman class, it's easier to say, 'Let's not eliminate a senior in favor of a junior.'"

Wilcox Opposes Quotas

But Wilcox is opposed to a policy of admitting a certain predetermined number of high school juniors, saying it would lead to the establishment of quotas for other sectors of the candidate group.

In the early years of the program, Glimp said, about eight to 12 juniors were admitted annually, and many compiled bad records; for the past two years, though, this has not been the case. "Earlies have tended to do very well or not very well," Wilcox said, adding that "the early has the quality of high visibility--when he gets into trouble, everybody knows about it."

Both Glimp and Wilcox said the early admission program was little trouble to run, and emphasized its value for a small number of students.