The diversity in both the applicant pool and the admit group represents a victory for the admissions office, which recognizes that early action applicants historically tend to be more affluent, and more white, officials said.

Deferred students--who make up the bulk of the applicants--can still hope to color themselves Crimson in April. In recent years, 85 to 220 deferred early action applicants have been admitted in the spring.

"People have honored us by applying and if they have any chance of getting in later, we give them the chance to do so [by rolling them into the regular applicant pool]," Fitzsimmons said. "I know there are people who think we should reject more, but we try to be positive about this."

With regular applications flowing in this month, admissions officers still have most of their year's work ahead, even though the spring cycle puts them under slightly less time pressure.

"I talked to the staff yesterday and I reminded them that they have been through an extremely difficult time," Fitzsimmons said. "It is critically important that they take their vacation time to prepare for regular action."