College Applications Fall Below Anticipated Amount

With the Jan. 15 deadline past, the expected record number of applications for admission to the Class of 1965 has failed to materialize.

After earlier predicting an applicant group of 5500-5700, Fred L. Glimp '50. Dean of Admissions, has revised his estimate to 5000, about 200 less than last year's record-breaking figure.

Glimp explained that all Ivy League schools this year received fewer applications than usual. Most schools suffered a five or ten per cent drop in the number of prospective students, with Amherst reporting a figure 27 per cent below last year's.

The unexpected decrease was probably a reaction to last year's unusually high percentage of rejected applicants. With the College turning down more than three times as many students as it accepts, many high school seniors were probably discouraged from applying to prestigeous Eastern schools.

Glimp also suggested that part of the drop may have been caused by a fall in the number of "multiple candidates." Last year's surprisingly high rate of affirmative replies from accepted students (over 81 per cent) seemed to indicate that fewer students are applying to more than one Ivy school, he explained.

Qualifications Improve

Despite the drop in the size of the applicant group, Glimp maintained that the average candidate for the Class of 1965 is again a "little better" all around than the applicant of previous years. High rejection rates tend chiefly to discourage students in the bottom half of the applicant group, he stated.

In addition, the number of students applying for scholarships rose by over 10 per cent, even though the hike in tuition rates occured after applications had been printed. Glimp said that this figure indicated continuation of the shift away from a preponderance of private school students among applicants.

Glimp viewed the decrease with "mixed feelings." Even though the appearance of a smaller applicant group will save his office a great deal of work, he feared that a few good candidates might have been "scared off" by the failure of some of their friends to qualify in previous years.

He also maintained that the drop in the size of the applicant group was not surprising since the number of applications for the Class of 1964 ran 15 per cent ahead of the previous year.