Nearly 12,000 high-school seniors will soon know whether they have been accepted to the Class of 2007, as e-mail decision letters will be sent out today in what has been one of the College's most competitive years ever for admissions. Paper decision letters were sent out on Wednesday, April 2, the uniform day for the Ivy League.
Of the record 11,853 students who applied to Dartmouth this year, only 17.5 percent will receive acceptance letters, the lowest such number in the history of the College.
"We had the largest applicant pool in history, and by far the biggest increase amongst comparably selective places," Dean of Admissions Karl Furstenberg said. "It was much larger and much stronger. It really puts pressure on the admissions process, but it also puts us in an enviable position to admit an outstanding group."
One measure of the strength of the pool is the record-high SAT averages among those accepted. The verbal score of 717 and the 725 math score represent higher average scores than those of any recent classes.
Furstenberg attributes the drastic increase in applications primarily to recent attempts to make Dartmouth more accessible to the average student. The College now relies exclusively on the Common Application, allowing students to apply to Dartmouth without completing an entirely separate set of forms. The Common App is also "more readily available online," according to Furstenberg.
Furstenberg also credits an increase in Internet and e-mail marketing and a greater focus on recruiting visitors to campus for the rise in applications.
"All in all it was an amazing year," Furstenberg said. "The big question now is who decides to come?"
1,705 students will be beginning those deliberations in the weeks ahead, although for the 394 students accepted under the binding Early Decision program, the decision has already been made. The remainder of the students will have until May 1 to secure their spots in the 1,070-person Class of 2007.
Last year just over half of the 2,090 accepted students chose to come to Dartmouth, producing a 52 percent yield. Furstenberg expects a yield "on that level or a little bit lower." Accounting for the projected drop, Furstenberg explained that "we have such a talented and diverse group of applicants that presumably these students are attracted elsewhere."
International students comprise a record eight percent of all admissions and hail from 53 different countries. Last year's international acceptances came from just 41 countries.
Students of color received 39 percent of acceptance letters this year, up from 37 percent last year and 28 percent just five years ago. 361 Asian-Americans, a record number, were among those accepted, joining 213 African-Americans, also a record.
Meanwhile, public school acceptances also reached a four-year record, comprising 64 percent of the admits. Conversely, the number of legacies admitted slumped to the lowest level in four years, with only 112 accepted.
Though financial aid figures and packages have not yet been finalized, Furstenberg said that he expects 46 to 48 percent of next year's freshman to be receiving some form of financial aid, with the average package totaling $22,000. Of this year's freshman class, 46 percent are receiving aid.
As students start receiving their decisions, the next step for the admissions office is making phone calls, Furstenberg said. When students read their rejection or wait list letters with dismay, they often call the admissions office to ask what went wrong.
"We try to give them a sense of how competitive it really was," Furstenberg said. "Admissions is really becoming crazy. Pools are becoming so large and so well-qualified that we are saying no to people that it is almost ludicrous to say no to."
