Matriculating to the College in 1998, the members of the Class of 2002 began their Dartmouth careers as students at the same time James Wright began his career as president.
Fifty-one percent male and 49 percent female, this year's group of graduates contained more women than any previous class in Dartmouth history. Of these students, 4 percent are international but less than 3 percent came to Dartmouth as transfer students.
At the time of enrollment, the class included a volunteer fireman, an auctioneer, a hypnotist and a student of vexillology, the study of flags.
Economics, English, government, history and psychology -- in no particular order -- were the most popular majors among the graduating students.
In 1998, the matriculating class was the largest in the past five years, even though the number of applications for the Class of 2002 was four percent lower than the previous year. The admittance rate of 21 percent was low at the time.
Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Karl Furstenberg told The Dartmouth in 1998 that the lower number of applications was "not an issue of volume but of quality."
While Dartmouth tends to accept 30 to 35 percent of its incoming class under the Early Decision plan, an unusually high 40 percent of the Class of 2002 received early acceptance.
Among those accepted early, the number of African-Americans, Native Americans and Latinos slightly increased from 28 students in the Class of 2001 to 35 among the '02s.
According to the Office of Admissions, 561 men and 539 women enrolled, yielding a total of 1,100 students, which was smaller than the normal size of an entering class.
The "yield," the number of students who decide to attend the College, was very high in comparison with other years.
The academic achievements of the '02 students was staggering. One hundred thirty-nine students scored 800 on the verbal part of the SAT, 120 scored 800 on math, and the median SAT scores in both sections were higher than in recent years.
Students represented every state except Mississippi, and there were 57 international students. Eight women -- an unusually high number -- hailed from the state of Wyoming.
New York, Massachusetts and California proved to be the most highly represented states for the Class of 2002. Twenty students from Stuyvesant High School in New York City attended the College.
A relatively low 28 percent of students were minorities, and there was a four percent drop in the number of Asian-American students who decided to enroll.
Seventeen percent of the enrolled students were recruited athletes. Before their arrival at Dartmouth, almost 90 percent of the students signed up to go on DOC freshman trips, which is more than any previous class.
Fifty-three percent of the '02s spent time away from Dartmouth on off-campus programs, which represents an increase from the 50 percent of '01s who participated in LSAs and FSPs.
Since matriculating in '98, College tuition has increased from $30,822 during the 1998-99 academic year to $34,458 for 2001-02.
