The College's admissions office mailed out a staggeringly high number of rejection letters Friday to applicants for the Class of 2008, as only 18.3 percent of the 11,733 students who applied were admitted -- a number almost as impressive as last year's record-low 18.2 percent admission rate.
Of the 2,143 students accepted to the Class of 2008, 384 heard back in December that they would be attending school in Hanover come September. That means that for the over-10,000 regular decision applicants the admission rate was lower still -- just 16.8 percent.
"Overall, this applicant pool was exceptional, requiring many tough decisions," Dean of Admissions Karl Furstenberg said.
Most exceptional of all were the average SAT scores, which jumped 15 points from last year to a record-high combined score of 1457. In the past three years, SAT scores have increased anywhere from 3 to 5 percent, which makes this year's jump particularly notable. The mean SAT verbal score was 726, while the mean SAT math score was 731.
Also of interest: 92 percent of students were ranked in the top 10 percent of their high-school class, and 34.1 percent were valedictorians.
"All in all this has been an exceptional year for admissions and I expect that the class that enrolls next fall will bring a great mix of talents, accomplishments and backgrounds to Dartmouth," Furstenberg said.
International student acceptances held near last year's recent high, comprising 7.7 percent of admitted students. Students of color dropped off a little from last year's record high, constituting 36.7 percent of '08 acceptances.
"This is very strong minority representation and is only slightly below last year's record level due to a small decline in minority applicants," Furstenberg said. "Unfortunately, most selective colleges seemed to be down in minority applicants this year."
African Americans made up 9.1 percent of acceptances, and Asian Americans 16.1 percent -- both numbers down nominally from last year.
Latinos held steady at 7.5 percent of acceptances and so did Native Americans and multi-racial students, with 2.9 and 1.1 percent respectively of acceptances.
Whereas last year slightly more men were accepted than women -- 11 more, to be exact -- this year, women dominate with the largest-ever proportion of admits at 51.1 percent.
At a five-year high, 64.5 percent of admitted students come from public high schools, and 55 percent come from outside the Northeast region, compared to 53 percent last year.
Six percent of acceptances -- approximately 130 students -- are Dartmouth legacies.
According to Furstenberg, approximately 42 percent of the Class of 2008 will receive scholarship assistance totaling approximately $12 million.
Approximately 46 percent of this year's freshman class is receiving some form of financial assistance.Now for the first time in this year's admissions process it is the College that will be waiting anxiously for decisions -- the decisions of the over-2,000 accepted students who will be deciding where they intend to enroll over the next month.
They have until May 1 to decide. As part of the attempt to woo accepted students to Dartmouth next year, the College will be hosting an estimated 450 to 500 students at its annual Dimensions of Dartmouth weekend April 22 through 25.
"Obviously yield will be important," Furstenberg said. "The [Dimensions] program is well-planned to give students an in-depth look at Dartmouth. All we can hope for now is a sunny weekend."
