The Dartmouth

AFTER all the nationwide publicity (largely unsought) about the mounting pressure for admission to the Ivy League colleges, the press with some glee reported in February that applications for the Class of 1965 were down in all the Ivy colleges. At that time the decline in completed applications ranged from 5% at Harvard and Princeton to 10% at Yale, and Dartmouth's figure was 8%.

As the deadline approached, however, Dartmouth's total of completed applications shot beyond last year's record figure, and the same was probably true for the rest of the Ivy League. The February newspaper stories undoubtedly were a factor in the late rush, bearing out the belief by college officers that many qualified applicants were being scared away by the earlier stories of skyrocketing applications and stiffer standards for getting in.

Frank A. Logan '52, assistant director of admissions at Dartmouth, said that the drop through mid-February could be explained in part as a reaction to the unusually high percentage of rejected candidates last year. Tuition increases in all the Ivy League colleges are another factor, to which can be added more realistic counseling in the secondary schools and more sophistication on the part of both students and parents when it comes to deciding where to apply.

In February, when the application numbers were running behind last year, the Ivy League admissions directors all reported that the quality of candidates was at a record high. Mr. Logan reports that this is definitely the case with approximately 3700 boys being considered for Dartmouth's next entering class. Acceptance letters are scheduled to be mailed May 5 to the successful applicants, who will have May 24 as their reply deadline.