<p>Bloomberg.com:</a> News</p>
<p>excerpt:</p>
<p>Jan. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Getting admitted to Harvard College or another selective university in the U.S. is likely to grow more difficult this year because of a record number of applicants, many attracted by financial aid.</p>
<p>More than 29,000 students applied to Harvard, a 5.6 percent increase, breaking last year’s record of 27,462, the Cambridge, Massachusetts, school said yesterday. Almost 78 percent of the applicants are seeking financial aid, compared with 73 percent a year ago, school officials said.</p>
<p>Duke University in Durham, North Carolina; Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge; Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island; and Stanford University near Palo Alto, California, reported growth of 10 percent or more in undergraduate applications. Anxiety about winning a place in college is prompting students to apply to more schools than before, said Bev Taylor, a college counselor in New York.</p>