Harvard College Admits 18 Percent of Early Applicants

<p>I am not sure how many of the EA admits were athletic recruits, but the number could range from 200-400. Since there are around 1600 Harvard students compete for varsity teams, it averages about 400 per class. Of course not all varsity athletes are tipped recruits, so the number of athletic recruits is probably somewhere between 200-400. If that is the case, the admit rate for non-athletic EA applicants is actually about 10%.</p>

<p>Wow. It was a rough year in Chicago. We were just sent the admitted/deferred list (it includes no info on denied, withdrew, etc.). TEN admitted from the Chicago region, from ten different high schools…and 101 deferred. So the national admit/defer ratio was about 1/4, and ours was 1/10. Ouch.</p>

<p>Of the ten admits, I believe seven are students of color. At least two of the admits are recruited athletes whose verbal commitments to Harvard were published earlier this fall. (I strongly suspect that at least one more was also a recruit in his/her sport.) The group also includes at least one nationally recognized achiever in the arts.</p>

<p>I was class of '99, and I was talking to an '07 alumna earlier today. I said that by our tenth reunions, all the Harvard alumni start saying (accurately) that we would never have gotten in under today’s standards. She said she was sure that was already true for her, six years ahead of schedule. Looking at these results, maybe she’s right. Jeez.</p>