Of those 140 students, 40 are students of color, nine are non-U.S. citizens and 27 are legacies. The accepted students come from 121 different secondary schools and boast average SAT scores of 713 in critical reading, 722 in math and 730 in writing.
“The economy does not appear to have had any effect on our early applicant pool,” said Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Tom Parker; only one accepted student has backed out due to issues surrounding a financial aid package, which is not unusual.
Parker said that the early acceptance pool is notable for its diversity — whereas three to four African-Americans may have been admitted from the early decision applicant pool 10 years ago, the class of 2013 has admitted 14. Similarly, due in part to the College’s decision to go need-blind for international students, the number of international students applying for admission is at an all-time high.
Parker expects that about 15 to 20 of the students deferred admission will be accepted in the spring, when regular decisions are made. They will be competing with the roughly 7,650 regular decision applicants to the College. This represents approximately one percent drop in applicants from last year, when over 7,700 regular decision applications were received. This is notable because the previous year, the College saw a 17-percent jump in applicants. According to Parker, most liberal arts colleges have seen similar decreases in regular applications.
In accepting 140 students early, the Admissions Office conformed to the College’s policy of accepting no more than 30 percent of the incoming class via early decision. The Class of 2013 is slated to have 465 students — 25 more students than the Class of 2012. Parker said there had been plans to gradually increase the size of the accepted class, but that the process was sped up in order to raise additional revenue given the economic climate.
The past two years, major College decisions have impacted the Admissions Office. Two years ago, the College announced that it would eliminate loans, and it subsequently saw the 17-percent increase in regular applicants. Last year, the College decided to go need-blind for international students, and, according to Parker, the Class of 2013 will probably be 11 to 12 percent international, rising above the roughly eight percent that makes up the class of 2012.
In addition to the 140 students accepted, the College also accepted nine Questbridge Scholars, who go through a different admissions process. The previous high had been four.