Despite a much larger and more competitive applicant pool for the Class of 2009 and a record-low acceptance rate, the College received good news when student decision letters arrived last week. Preliminary numbers show the College's yield to be higher than last year's, as Dartmouth received favorable responses from 1,084 of the 2,150 accepted students.
The responses leave Dartmouth with a yield rate of 50.4 percent. This year's yield, which represents the percentage of accepted students who choose to attend, increased slightly from last year. The large jump in applicants combined with a highly competitive applicant class had created some worries about a drop in the yield rate, but ultimately the percentage remained essentially unchanged.
"I'm delighted that the yield has held. It looks like we have a great class," Dean of Admissions Karl Furstenberg said.
With students' college choices finalized, the admissions season for the Class of 2009 draws to a close, but not without a few last-minute kinks to be worked out. While 1,084 matriculation notices had been counted by May 6, the number will probably increase to almost 1,100, Furstenberg said. However, over the summer 25 to 30 students who have chosen to matriculate will likely drop out of the Class of 2009, with most of the attrition resulting from deferred admission.
Regardless of when they choose to begin their Dartmouth careers, the students accepted into the Class of 2009 are certainly well-qualified. While fewer and fewer high schools are ranking students, those who come from high schools that do are incredibly well-ranked. Almost 31 percent of students from these high schools will graduate at the top of their classes, while another 10 percent will finish as salutatorian. SAT scores for the Class of 2009 are all-time highs, with an average SAT score of 1437 -- up five points from last year -- and a median score of 1470.
"In any kind of national comparison this has got to be one of the strongest classes entering any college in the country," said Furstenberg.
While diversity numbers are also high, they have not increased over previous years. The students planning to matriculate in the fall who identified themselves as students of color made up just over 30 percent of the incoming class -- 327 students. The Class of 2009 has six fewer students of color than did the Class of 2008.
The Class of 2009 does have geographic diversity. On-campus representation of students from the South has been growing -- comprising 16.1 percent of the Class of 2009 -- as that population has grown. Western representation also hit an all-time high at 18.9 percent, while New England and Midwest representation declined. High-school diversity also increased. The students of the Class of 2009 attended 828 different high schools, 14 more than the Class of 2008.
Legacies will constitute a greater proportion of the Class of 2009 than the classes of recent years, with 123 legacies choosing to matriculate, making up 11.3 percent of the class.
Making sure that all students intent on coming to Dartmouth are financially able to do so, the high-scoring and diverse Class of 2009 will also be well-funded. About $13 million in financial aid has been offered to students choosing to matriculate, an average of $26,300 per enrolling financial aid student.
