Early Action applications rise to 4,856
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. 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. 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. 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. “Harvard’s revolutionary financial aid program continued to have a...