Regular decision applications increased 9 percent this year, including a 25 percent rise in Native American applicants, according to Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Karl Furstenberg.
Applications submitted by females, African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos and Native Americans each sky-rocketed more than 17 percent.
Furstenberg said applications by these groups have recently lagged behind other institutions. "Now we're catching up," he said.
Applications increased because of the College's stronger recruiting efforts and a rise in positive feelings towards private colleges across the nation, Furstenberg said.
But Furstenberg said Dartmouth's applications are up more than the rest of the Ivy League.
"I think we're gaining some of the ground we lost four to five years ago when we had a lot of bad press," Furstenberg said.
National television shows such as "20/20" and "60 Minutes" reported on divisive racial controversies involving The Dartmouth Review, an off-campus conservative weekly.
Although the numbers are not yet final, Furstenberg said there will end up being about 9,400 applications. Last year 8,586 students applied.
Female applicants increased from 3,500 to 4,200, a more than 17 percent leap.
"Part of [the increase] is because there is a lot of good information out there about Dartmouth," Furstenberg said. "We're finally correcting people's misperceptions about the place."
African American applications rose 18 percent, bringing the number of applications up from 326 to 386; Latino applications increased 18 percent from 316 to 372; Native American applications jumped 25 percent from 112 to 141; and Asian American applications leaped 17 percent, from 843 to 984.
Furstenberg said the larger application pool will let the College be more selective and will lead to a stronger class.
"In general, the fact that we've done better than other Ivies is a really encouraging sign," he said.
