EARLY DECISION

The Class of 2007 is now over a third full, with the 394 early admissions acceptance letters mailed in mid-December filling 37 percent of the incoming freshman class.

The 32 percent acceptance rate is comparable to last year's figure, but remains much higher than the regular decision rate, which last year stood at only 20 percent.

1,217 students applied, a total up eight percent from last year, and the highest such figure in five years.

The number of students that are admitted remains very consistent from year to year, but the percentage of each class comprised of early admissions acceptances fluctuates.

This is the closest the early decision pool has ever been in male to female ratio. This trend has continued with the resulting early acceptances, as the College accepted more women than men early for the first time since the beginning of early decision. 198 women were admitted early compared to 196 men.

Also notable was an increase in the number of students of color accepted early this year. Of the 394 admits, 71 were given to students of color, constituting 18 percent of early acceptances.

This year Dartmouth received the fewest number of early applications among the Ivy League schools, and consequently the percentage of the Class of 2007 comprised of early applicants also ranks among the lowest in the Ivies.

Yale's 557 acceptances will comprise 43 percent of its class of 2007. Columbia also accepted 43 percent of its class early, while Penn accepted 47 percent. Cornell joined Dartmouth at 37 percent.

Harvard, which accepted 1,150 students under its non-binding early admissions program from an Ivy-high 7,600 early applicants, cannot be sure how many will actually enroll.

Harvard's enrolled class of 2006 was nearly 1,700 students.

Because none of the Ivies are allowed to offer athletic scholarships per Ivy guidelines, most of the athletic recruiting in the Ivies is done through Early Decision. This year Dartmouth admitted 112 recruited athletes, including five swimmers, despite the announced cut of the swimming and diving teams during the early decision deliberation process.

REGULAR DECISION

Of the record 11,853 students who applied to Dartmouth this year, only 17.5 percent received acceptance letters on April 4th, the lowest such number in the history of the College.

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.

1,705 students were accepted under regular decision, in addition to the 394 students accepted under the binding Early Decision program. Accepted 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.

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.

Dartmouth received "record levels" of applications from students of color -- 11 percentage point more than last year. African-American student applications were up 15 percent, Asian-American students climbed 16 percent, Latino students gained 10 percent and Native Americans rose 12 percent from last year.

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, Dartmouth 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.

This year's SAT averages were the highest in history for any class of applicants. The averages for the entire pool of applicants were 678 on the verbal section and 699 for the math section.