Even as the number of applicants for early decision continues its downward trend, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Karl Furstenberg is confident that the total applicant pool will be as large as last year's.
The total number of students admitted early into the Class of 2004 is 412, or roughly 38 percent of the early applicant pool, according to statistics recently released by the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid.
"I am very pleased with the strong results for admitted students," Furstenberg said. "It represents a very solid foundation for the Class of 2004."
Furstenberg said he is not concerned about this year's decline in early decision applications.
Under the early decision plan, 1,092 students applied for a place in the Class of 2004, as compared to 1,162 early decision applicants for the Class of 2003 and 1,214 applicants for the Class of 2002.
He said one reason why Dartmouth experienced this drop is the decision of some universities -- including Harvard, Brown and Georgetown -- to allow students to apply early to more than one school. Those universities formerly did not allow this practice and Dartmouth still prohibits it.
"Students have been less willing to commit themselves to early decision as a result of these changes, but it is the total number of applicants that is important," Furstenberg said.
He noted that other schools with early decision policies, such as Princeton University and Yale University have also experienced a decline or no growth in the number of early decision applicants.
The male to female ratio among the accepted students is fairly even. The total number of minority students accepted is 47, which is less than the 59 who were accepted under the early decision plan last year.
"There continues to be a general concern among students of color that Dartmouth " because of its location and its history " may not be that tolerant," Furstenberg said.
Last year, only three African-Americans were admitted early decision. Despite the commotion over the small number, the Class of 2003's regular admissions charted the highest percentage of minorities ever admitted. The Class of 2003 was comprised of 35 percent minorities.
This year the number of minorities accepted early has climbed to eight.
The geographical makeup of the admitted students was similar to last year's, with the majority coming from New England and the Mid-Atlantic states. The number of admitted students from foreign countries increased to 20 this year, up from 12 last year.
Approximately 84 percent of the admitted students were in the top 10 percent of their high school classes. The mean SAT verbal score was 701, and the mean SAT math score was 711.
The final numbers for the regular decision applicant pool are not yet available.
