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A record-breaking number of more than 29,000 students have applied for spots in Harvard’s class of 2013, up about 5 percent from last year’s 27,462 applicants, the admissions office announced today. With an increase in applicants but the same number of spots available, this year’s admissions season is poised to be even more competitive than last year’s. </p>
<p>“The admission rate will undoubtedly be lower,” said Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid William R. Fitzsimmons ’67 in a phone interview yesterday. “We only have about 1,660 places in the freshman class. We know the Houses are full to capacity and there are no places to put students in the Yard. As last year, we will be conservative in April and take more students from the waitlist in case there is a significant jump in the yield.” </p>
<p>Men make up 50.7 percent of applicants to the class of 2013 and women make up 49.3 percent. Applications have risen in greater Boston and the mid-Atlantic region, risen slightly in the South and West, and decreased slightly in the Northeast. </p>
<p>Other top universities expect an increase in applicants as well. The number of applications to Yale College is approaching 26,000, up from 22,817 applications last year, Dean of Admissions Jeff Brenzel told the Yale Daily News last week. Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania expect to report their applicant numbers later this week or early next week, according to deans of admission at both schools. The University of Virginia, who like Harvard eliminated early admission two years ago, received 21,750 applications, up 17 percent from last year, according to Senior Associate Dean of Admission Greg Roberts.
[The</a> Harvard Crimson :: News :: 29,000 High School Seniors Covet Place in the Class of 2013](<a href=“http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=526153]The ”>http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=526153 )</p>
<p>The applications by students to top schools who clearly don’t have any chance of getting in may be a function of the current education trend to tell every student that they are special in some way. Multiple intelligences, awards for every student, accommodations in testing, and integrated classrooms have lead students to have an overblown and unrealistic expectation of their academic worth.</p>
<p>Folks, you are not all special, despite what your parents tell you.</p>