Harvard SCEA Applications = 4,856

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
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<p>Early</a> Action applications rise to 4,856 | Harvard Gazette</p>

<p>A total of 4,856 students have applied for admission to Harvard’s Class of 2017 under the Early Action program, an increase of 14.9 percent over last year. The Class of 2016 had 4,228 students in the early pool.</p>

<p>Harvard restored Early Action last year after a four-year absence. A total of 772 students were admitted under the program, with the balance of the 2,076 students admitted through Regular Action.</p>

<p>Under Early Action, students apply by Nov. 1 and are notified by Dec. 13. Students admitted under Early Action are not obligated to attend and have until May 1 to reply.</p>

<p>This fall, students affected by Hurricane Sandy were given extensions to the deadlines for their applications, recommendations, and testing requirements. This long-standing practice of flexibility for students facing hardships of all kinds enabled some students to overcome a variety of challenges related to the storm.</p>

<p>“Harvard’s revolutionary financial aid program continued to have a significant effect on the applicant pool,” said William R. Fitzsimmons, dean of admissions and financial aid. Both economic and ethnic diversity increased. There was a 39 percent increase in those requesting a fee waiver, a 22 percent increase in applications from African-American students, and a 24 percent increase in applications from Native Americans, while applications from other minority students increased by smaller increments.</p>

<p>“Anyone considering Harvard, Early or Regular [Jan. 1 application deadline for March 28 notification], has access to Harvard’s new Net Price Calculator[NPC], a simple one-page application available on both the admissions and financial aid websites that provides an estimate of a family’s eligibility for assistance under Harvard’s generous need-based financial aid program,” said Sarah C. Donahue, director of financial aid.</p>

<p>Families with annual incomes of $65,000 or less are not required to contribute to their children’s educational expenses. Those with incomes from $65,000 to $150,000 pay on a sliding scale up to 10 percent of annual income, and there is also need-based aid available to families with incomes greater than $150,000. Families with significant wealth in all income categories are asked to contribute more. Home equity and retirement funds are not considered in the calculations, and students are no longer required to take out loans. More than 60 percent of Harvard students receive need-based financial aid and receive grants averaging more than $40,000.</p>

<p>“Our new School of Engineering and Applied Sciences continues to stimulate interest in Harvard,” said Marlyn E. McGrath, director of admissions. There was a 55 percent increase in the number of students interested in computer science, a 32 percent increase for math, a 29 percent increase for physical sciences, and a 24 percent increase in engineering.</p>

<p>“Other factors may also have played a role in having more students consider Harvard,” said Fitzsimmons. “The new Innovation Lab, the Harvard Initiative for Learning and Teaching, and edX launched this past spring with MIT [and now with the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Texas, Mass Bay Community College, and Bunker Hill Community College] have been noted by students we have met recruiting on the road this fall.”</p>

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<p>Harvard can basically fill 3 full classes with just the EA pool. Fun.</p>

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<p><em>sigh</em></p>

<p>I’m guessing the EA acceptance rate will drop</p>

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<p>“There was a 39 percent increase in those requesting a fee waiver, a 22 percent increase in applications from African-American students, and a 24 percent increase in applications from Native Americans, while applications from other minority students increased by smaller increments.” </p>

<p>Wow.</p>

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<p>For what it’s worth, my back of the envelope calculations (with a lot of guesswork):</p>

<ol>
<li>Athletic Recruits = about 230 students</li>
</ol>

<p>Ivy League rules stipulate that no school may recruit more than 230 players. Harvard, having the largest number of athletic teams, probably uses the maximum slots allowed. Virtually all recruited players must commit to Harvard in the early round. So, my best guess is 230 student athletes SCEA.</p>

<ol>
<li>Legacy = about 150 students</li>
</ol>

<p>Last year, William Fitzsimmons said legacy’s represented 12 to 13 percent of the student body. If that number continues to hold, that would mean Harvard will accept about 200 legacy’s this year. If 75% of legacy students apply early, that is about 150 legacy’s SCEA.</p>

<ol>
<li>URM’s = about 100 students</li>
</ol>

<p>This number is a complete guess. Last year, Yale said that their URM’s now account for a greater percentage of their student body than their legacy’s. So, if Harvard’s percentage is about the same, my guess for URM’s is about 200 students overall. If 50% are accepted SCEA, that is about 100 URM students SCEA.</p>

<hr>

<p>230 Athletic Recruits + 150 Legacy’s + 100 URM’s = 480 students</p>

<p>Last year Harvard accepted 772 students SCEA. If they accept about the same number of students this year, that would leave about 300 slots for everyone else. So if my back of the envelope calculations are close, Harvard’s SCEA acceptance rate will be about 6% to 7% for unhooked applicants – which is about double last year’s RD acceptance rate.</p>

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<p>There is potential overlap between the three groups, surely.</p>

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<p>Agreed, but how much of overlap is an unknown. If there is a 10% overlap (50 students), that would potentially increase the SCEA acceptance rate of unhooked applicants to about 8%.</p>

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<p>Lol so I suppose this year’s standard for African Americans and Native Americans will increase</p>

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<p>^^ Yes, with a 22 percent increase in applications from AA students, and a 24 percent increase in NA students, it will be more difficult in the SCEA round than last year. But, with the increased number of applications overall, it will be more difficult for everyone.</p>

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<p>The plural of “legacy” is “legacies.”</p>

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<p>"Lol so I suppose this year’s standard for African Americans and Native Americans will increase "</p>

<p>That’s assuming that previous years’ NA applicants filled the unofficial slots slated for them. If there weren’t enough who met H’s standards,then those slots were allocated to another sub group. We don’t know.</p>

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<p>@Browniebaker: Thank you for the correction.</p>

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<p>@T26E4 Harvard changes its standard to adjust for number of admits, not the other way around.
“If there weren’t enough who met H’s standards,then those slots were allocated to another sub group.”
Again, Harvard lowers its standard to guarantee a certain percentage of URM’s. Thus, unless URMs’ credentials get higher than those of non-URMs, there will almost never be an increase in the number of URM admits.</p>

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<p>@lovenerds: From my experience, I offer this guess only: the NA subgroup of applications varies in # and quality year to year. Thus some years H et al can meet goals w/o altering stds. Some years they fall short. Given the variations in # of admitted students in this group, I think they don’t lower standards those years and just move on w/o filling the slots. If you notice, the AA subgroup goals are more stable year to year – indicating to me that the applicant pool has more than enough who meet H’s minimum criteria.</p>

<p>Again, it’s only my guess on things. I could be out in left field.</p>

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</p>

<p>This is a faulty 2nd grade math at work. When those Athletic Recruits, legacies and URMs are removed from the number of admits, the # of applcaitons from these groups should also be removed!</p>

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<p>^^ Yes, that’s what I did, I just didn’t break it down for you. So, here goes: </p>

<p>4856 total SCEA applications minus 480 Athletic Recruits, legacies and URMs = 4376 unhooked applications. 300 slots for everyone else divided by 4376 (groups removed) times 100 = 6.85%.</p>

<p>Although my calculation doesn’t remove the applications from hooked candidates that are rejected, there’s really no way to ascertain that figure, unless you are an Admissions Officer.</p>

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<p>Wait, do you mean the 480 are the only applicants? So they get accepted 100%?</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Then, don’t do the calculation to mislead.</p>

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<p>I was NOT trying to mislead; I even prefaced my post saying there was a lot guesswork involved. As you don’t seem to like my 2nd grade math, maybe you can enlighten us with your calculations.</p>

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<p>My guess would be that athletic recruits are at about 90% of actual athletes, legacies is at 35% (standard legacy rate provided by Harvard), and URM admit rate probably is in the ballpark of 20-30% in the early round.</p>

<p>So the deductions should be much higher from 4850?</p>

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<p>^^ Well, if you use those figures, my 2nd grade math gets a 7.82% acceptance rate.</p>

<p>256 Athletic recruits (x.90 = about 230 admitted SCEA)
428 Legacies (x.35 = about 150 admitted SCEA)</p>

<h2>340 URM (x.30 = about 100 admitted SCEA)</h2>

<p>1024 hooked applications</p>

<p>4856 total applications minus 1024 hooked applications = 3832 unhooked applications. 300 slots for everyone else divided by 3832 times 100 = 7.82%</p>

<p>But again, that doesn’t include applicants who overlap in categories.</p>