Harvard Opens Secondary Fields Option

Students graduating from Harvard this spring will be the first class in the University's history with the option of listing a 'secondary field,' or minor, on their diplomas.

To graduate with a secondary field, a student will have to take a sequential set of four to six courses approved by the University. To date, 49 secondary field programs have been approved, ranging from Anthropology to Celtic Languages to East Asian Studies to Evolutionary Biology.

Additional secondary field programs in global health, archaeology, and other disciplines are under review.

Source: "Secondary Fields Open to Seniors," by Johannah S. Cornblatt, the Harvard Crimson, January 31, 2007

Over 50,000 Apply to UCLA for Fall 2007

Almost 50,700 high school seniors have applied to the University of California - Los Angeles for freshman admission this fall.

This year's applicant pool is 5.1 per cent larger than last year's and sets a record for the number of applications received by UCLA in a single application season.

UCLA typically receives more applications than any other college or university in the U.S. The University admits about 25 per cent of applicants on the basis of a holistic admissions review that considers personal achievements and evidence of character in addition to high school academic records and standardized test results.

Source: "UCLA Remains the Country’s Most Popular University with More Than 50,000 High School Seniors Applying for Fall," press release, UCLA (Los Angeles, CA), January 24, 2007

Duke Gets Near-Record Number of Applications

Duke University received nearly 18,500 applications for seats in its Class of 2011. That's significantly fewer than the almost 19,400 it received last year, but still marks the second-highest number of freshman admissions received in one year in the school's history.

Duke admitted 475 students during its Early Decision round in December. It expects to accept enough students through the Regular Decision round to fill the approximately 1, 665 seats it still has open for Fall 2007.

Source: "Applicant Pool to Duke Is Second Largest in School History," press release, Duke University (Durham, NC), January 9, 2007

U. of Mich. Delays Making Admissions Decisions

The University of Michagan has announced that it will not begin making Fall 2007 admissions decisions until January 10, approximately one week later than orignially planned. The delay affects applications for freshman, transfer, graduate, and professional school admissions.

The delay arises from ongoing legal developments concerning the consideration of race in admissions decisions at Michigan universities.

Last November, Michigan voters voted in favor of a referendum that requires publicly-supported institutions to refrain from using race, gender, color, ethnicity, or national origin in admissions decisions, effective January 1.

The University of Michigan was one of several schools that went to court in mid-December to request a six-month delay in implementing the new law. They argued that introducing new admissions policies on January 1 would mean using two sets of standards for the 2007 applicant pool -- one for candidates whose applications were read before January 1, and another for applicants whose files were read later. (The University of Michigan has been accepting freshman applications on a rolling basis since last August.)

A U.S. District Court initially granted the request for a delay. On December 29, however, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that decision, effectively ordering schools to adopt the new law as originally planned.

University officials say that admissions offices are free to communicate decisions that were made before December 29 to applicants. Other decisions will be put on hold until January 10.

Source: "U of M Delays Admissions Decisions," AP (Lansing, MI), January 3, 2007