1370 Chosen For College's Class of 1965

The College has accepted 1370 students from the more than 5200 who applied for admission to the Class of 1965.

Since the Committee on Admissions and Scholarships assumes a student reaction rate of 18 per cent and hopes to admit 50 men from the waiting list, it expects an eventual class of 1200.

Calling the successful applicants "a more powerful group than ever," Edward R. Wilcox, Acting Director of Admissions, suggested that the publicity given Harvard by the Kennedy administration may have contributed to the rise in quality.

Although the number of applications rose very slightly, the College has admitted 35 fewer students than last year. An unexpectedly high acceptance rate last year necessitated a sudden upward revision in class size. The Committee, therefore, has taken particular care to avoid overacceptance.

Almost half of the applicants (2500) requested financial aid, an increase of several hundred over last year's figure. The College has granted $425,000 worth of scholarships to approximately 350 incoming freshmen--an average outlay of 100 per scholarship student.

Specifically, the Class of 1965 received about 80 National Merit Scholarships, eight General Motors National Scholarships, 50 honorary Harvard Nationals, 45 Harvard College Stipendiary Nationals, and from 50 to 75 honorary freshman scholarships.

Urgent reassessment of the methods of evaluating need in the $15,000--$20,000 become bracket is required, according to Henry P. Briggs, Jr. '54, Director of freshman Scholarships. The constant increase in college costs, he noted, has placed even moderately wealthy families in the scholarship category.

Next week the directors of admissions from the member colleges of the College Entrance Examinations Board will meet revise the present admissions producers. They will probably set an earlier date for notification of acceptance.