The 1,081 students from around the globe who intend to matriculate in the Class of 2009 this coming fall, will form Dartmouth's strongest academic class to date.
Despite a record number of applicants, the yield -- the percentage of students offered admission who accepted -- remained virtually the same as previous years, at just above 50 percent.
"I am delighted that the yield has held. It looks like we have a great class," Dean of Admissions Karl Furstenberg said.
The numbers show that the students of the class of 2009 are certainly a well-qualified group. Almost 87.7 percent of students from ranking high schools come from the top 10 percent of their classes, while a whopping 29.6 percent are valedictorians -- a rise of nearly 4 percent from the Class of 2008.
"In any kind of national comparison, this has got to be one of the strongest classes entering any college in the country," said Furstenberg.
The median SAT scores jumped 10 points to 1470 -- 740 Verbal and 730 Math. The mean SAT was 1438 -- 717 Verbal and 721 Math.
And while diversity numbers are high, they have not increased over previous years. Just over 30 percent of the Class of 2009 identifies itself as students of color, with six fewer students than the Class of 2008.
With regards to geographic diversity, the Class of 2009 also ranks high. Both southern and western representation hit all-time highs, with 16.1 percent of students hailing from southern states and 18.9 percent from the West. New England and Midwest representation has 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 make up a greater proportion of the Class of 2009 than in previous classes, accounting for 11.3 percent of first-years.
Financially, the class is also 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.
