Harvard Rejects Common Application

The Harvard-Radcliffe Admissions office decided this summer not to participate in a 100-college plan to use a common application form for undergraduate admissions after finding the program unsatisfactory in a pilot study last year.

L. Fred Jewett '57, dean of admissions and financial aid, said yesterday his office had rejected the "simplified" form because it did not supply "as much material as we wanted--it was unfair to some students, giving them less of a chance."

Jewett added, however, that the office is not opposed to using a common form in principle and that it may participate in a joint program in the future.

Last year Harvard and several other colleges accepted a standard application from students in about 15 high schools. William R. Fitzsimmons '67, director of admissions, said yesterday the admissions office here "didn't get quite as good a feel of the students" form that form.

Fitzsimmons explained that Harvard has traditionally asked applicants for a list of extra-curricular activities and books read for "a qualitative summary" of their most meaningful high school activities.

In addition, the current Harvard application asks students what academic experiences have meant the most to them and what they expect to do academically in college.

The common application form asks only for one essay and a short list of activities. Colleges may participate in the plan on one of two levels. Under the so-called "hard-core" program, a student may apply to any participating school with a single application.

The "soft-core" approach enables only students at one of 500 participating high schools to use the common form. Students from other schools must file different applications to each college. Harvard participated on the "soft-core" level last year.

Moll and Wall

The common application program was initiated last year by Richard Moll, dean of admissions at Vassar College, and Edward Wall, dean of admissions at Amherst College. Other participating colleges include Williams, Wesleyan and Goucher.