Anxious high school seniors can start watching their mailboxes for fat envelopes tomorrow -- that's when Dartmouth will send out 1,782 acceptances to the future Class of 2004, with the number of admissions holding steady from last year.
"This group is one of the strongest around, with incredible quality and depth," Dean of Admissions Karl Furstenberg said.
Thirty-two percent of the admitted students are ranked number one in their high school class. The mean verbal SAT score is 717 while the mean math score is 721.
The acceptances are split relatively evenly between females and males, with a ratio of 49 to 51 percent respectively. Furstenberg said he expects a class of 1,075 to matriculate to the College in the fall.
Dartmouth witnessed a dramatic 52 percent upswing in the number of Africa American candidates. Furstenberg says that he would like to see further increases in applications from students of color.
There was also an increase in the number of international students, a group for which total applicants numbered 1,350 and acceptances were 170.
Thirty-two percent of the admitted students are minority students and seven percent are international students.
Although the international students hail from all over the world, the largest contingent comes from Asia and the Indian Subcontinent.
The percentage of students receiving financial aid is 42 percent, which holds steady from last year. This year the average aid award totaled $18,300, which amounts to more than half the total cost of admission.
"This reflects last year's initiative, which reduces loans and allows students to keep 100 percent of outside scholarships," Furstenberg said.
There was a shift in geographical diversity as well. Although the College always receives many applications from the Northeast, there was a shift this year which resulted in increased applications from Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire. There were also significant increases in the number of applicants from the Northwest, including Washington, Oregon and Alaska. Increases were also seen from Wisconsin, Florida and Texas.
In relation to other the other Ivies, Dartmouth fared well. Approximately half of the Ivies experiences increases in applicants, the other half either remained the same or decreased.
Harvard received 18,687 applicants, while Yale received 12,809, down 410 from last year.
Applications to Dartmouth totaled 10,190 students this year and 412 students were accepted under the early decision program. Combined, Dartmouth accepted approximately 22 percent of all applicants.
