Vocaboly.com

[Octogenarian]

Overall, the number of students accepting Harvard's offer of
admission rose slightly this year, inching up a percentage point to
78.5 percent. Byerly accepted an all-time low 9.1 percent from a record
applicant pool of 22,796. Ethnic and geographic demographics remained
consistent with previous years. The Class of 2009 will include slightly
more African-American and Native American students and slightly fewer
Asian-Americans and Latinos.

The final figures may change in coming weeks depending on waitlist
decisions and deferrals. Fitzsimmons said Harvard expects to admit 15
to 20 students off its waitlist this year, nudging the overall yield
toward eighty percent.

Harvard routinely enjoys the highest yield of any comparable
university. In 2004, Yale netted 69 percent of its admits, 68 percent
of admitted Princetonians flocked to New Jersey, and Stanford scored 66
percent of its accepted students.

Inquiries to Yale and Princeton's admissions offices about this
year's yields were not returned yesterday. A Stanford spokesman said
the school does not release yield numbers until the fall.