For the first time in its history, the College accepted more women than men into its freshman class.
On Friday, 2,150 acceptance letters - 1,076 to women and 1,074 to men - will be mailed to students, who were selected from 9,524 applicants.
This year's applicant pool was 10.9 percent larger than last year's, said Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Karl Furstenberg.
Usually about 50 percent of accepted students matriculate, Furstenberg said. He projects the Class of 1998 will have about 1,060 students.
"It's really been an incredibly good year," Furstenberg said.
Last year 2,273 students were accepted from a pool of 8,587 students and 1,087 matriculated.
According to Admissions Office statistics, 20.3 percent of men who applied to the College this year were admitted and 25.5 percent of women who applied were admitted.
The College also accepted the highest percentage of minorities ever, but the number of minority students accepted is similar to last year.
Furstenberg said minority students comprise 28.9 percent of the admitted pool. Of the minorities accepted, 186 are African Americans, 284 are Asian Americans, 111 are Latinos and 41 are Native Americans.
The mean Scholastic Achievement Test scores of the admitted students are 647 verbal and 704 math, Furstenberg said. The median SAT scores are 660 verbal and 720 math, he added.
Thirty-three percent of the admitted students are valedictorians and 11 percent are salutatorians, he said.
Furstenberg said both the size and the quality of the applicant pool has improved significantly from last year.
"The [negative] word about this place seems to be fading. We're really getting first-rate applicants from all over the place," Furstenberg said.
Five hundred students, who the Admissions Office deemed the most highly qualified, were given provisional acceptance letters in February, Furstenberg said.
Furstenberg said one reason fewer students were accepted this year was the increase in Early Decision candidates who were accepted.
Furstenberg said there has been a rise in admitted students from California, Georgia, and Florida, which he attributed to demographic shifts in the nation.
Bob Bordone '94, a senior interviewer, said "I think they're going to be a great class. I was really amazed by the quality of people and the breadth of experience."
