Statistics from the 2003 America’s Best Colleges
by U.S. News & World Report for 2001-2 freshman class.   

school	% accepted	total applicants	number accepted	% Asian-Am. in student body
U.S. Coast Guard Academy	7.187	5621	404	5
Juilliard School	8.867	1703	151	14
Harvard	11.097	19,014	2110	17
Princeton	11.736	14,289	1677	12
Columbia	12.268	14,094	1729	13
Stanford	12.629	19,052	2406	25
U.S. Naval Academy	12.727	11,558	1471	4
Cooper Union	13.492	2179	294	25
Yale	13.762	14,809	2038	14
CalTech	15.305	3365	515	25
U.S. Military Academy	16.281	9895	1611	6
Brown	16.434	16,606	2729	14
U.S. Air Force Academy	16.949	9552	1619	4
MIT	17.035	10,490	1787	28
Amherst	18.802	5175	973	11
Georgetown	20.839	15,327	3194	10
U. of Pennsylvania	21.574	19,153	4132	20
Middlebury	22.584	5411	1222	6
Dartmouth	22.842	9719	2220	11
Tufts	23.197	13,700	3178	13
Rice	23.442	6740	1580	14
Washington Univ. (St. Louis)	23.462	20,834	4888	10
Bowdoin	23.810	4536	1080	7
Williams	24.148	4638	1120	8
U. of Calif. – Berkeley	24.688	36,099	8912	41
Average				14.3

4/4/02 Brown Daily Herald: “With acceptance letters stamped and mailed,
Class of 2006 shapes up,”
Applications declined from 16,606 to 14,606, with the overall acceptance rate
up to 16.6% from last year�s 15.9%. The drops in both applications and acceptances are entirely a result of Brown becoming an early decision school, said Director of College Admission Michael Goldberger. He expects 58% of accepted students to matriculate. Of the 2,434 students accepted, 9% identified themselves as African American, 16% as Asian American, 8% as Latino, fewer than 1% as Native American, 43% as white, 16% are of unknown ethnicity, and 8% are foreign citizens. The ethnic breakdown of acceptances changed only slightly from last year. 10% are international students. 33% of accepted students are valedictorians, with 91% in the top 10% of their graduating class. The 50th percentile SAT scores were 650-760 on the verbal section and 670-770 on the math section. The Class of 2006 is the last class to be selected without a need-blind admission policy. Financial aid did factor into some acceptance decisions, Goldberger said.

4/12/02 Columbia Spectator: “College�s �06 Application Numbers Increase. Columbia College�s admit rate has dropped to a new low of 11.6%.”
The acceptance rate for Columbia College dropped to another record-low mark this year, dipping to 11.6% from 12.2% last year. The Fu Foundation
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences saw a slightly increased acceptance rate, rising to 30.8% from 26.3% last year. The College received a record-high 14,136 applications for the class of 2006 and accepted 1,637 students. SEAS received 2,026 applications, about 400 fewer than last year,
and accepted 625 students. Executive Director of Undergraduate Admissions Eric Furda attributed the decrease in SEAS applicants to the declining
economy, especially in engineering sectors.
The average SAT score of the accepted students also increased slightly to 1430, a six-point jump from last year’s average. SEAS’s average SAT score remained the same at 1440.
About 1,400 students were offered spots on a wait list, and about 75% of
them are expected to accept a spot. “If the past is any indication, we’ll take 10 students [off the wait list],” Furda said. The class of 2006 for both the College
and SEAS should remain roughly at their current levels of 1007 and 310
students.
38% of the accepted students identified themselves as African-American, Hispanic, or Asian, and 4% percent identified themselves as multi-racial. 7%
of the students are citizens of countries other than the United States.

5/2/02 Cornell Chronicle: “Admit rate for new class remains stable; accepted students are more diverse,”
The number of applicants to Cornell for fall 2002 remained level with last
year’s number, and the admit rate remained stable, while the admitted students are a more diverse group, said Doris Davis, associate provost for admissions and enrollment.
A total of 21,500 students applied for undergraduate admission, compared with 21,518 a year ago, and 6.5% more than the previous year. Of those
21,500 applicants, a total of 6,013 were admitted, for an overall admit rate of 28%, up slightly from the 27.2% final admit rate for fall 2001, but down from 30.6% the previous year.
Admissions aims to enroll an entering class of 3,000, but the yield on acceptances has increased over the past few years and is difficult to predict, Davis said. The yield rate for last fall was 51.9% compared with 51.1% the previous year.
According to Davis’ Preliminary Undergraduate Admissions Report, 33.4%
of all admitted students are persons of color — including African-American, Hispanic, Native American and Asian/Asian American, Hawaiian/Pacific
Islander and bi/multicultural — compared with 30% a year ago. Another 8.4%
are international students, compared with 7.1% last year.
Admitted African-American students represent 5.2%, Hispanic students
5.9% and Asian/Asian-American students 17.4% of the total admitted,
according to the report. Those figures compare with 6.2%, 6%, and 17.5%
a year ago, respectively. Total underrepresented minority students, which includes African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans and Pacific
Islanders, admitted for fall 2002, is 865, or 14.4%. There is no comparable
data for last year due to a change in the way the data was gathered. Davis
said it still will be a few weeks before demographic information is complete
on the Class of 2006.

4/5/02 The Cornell Daily Sun: “Final Admissions Decisions in Mail:
Cornell sees selectivity rating increase,”
Cornell received 21,486 applications this year, 32 fewer applications than
last year. The admission rate for the Class of 2006 dropped from 25.7% to 24.35%. These rates are based on acceptance rates across the University’s seven colleges.
Of the 21,486 applications, 1,770 applications were early decision
applicants.
Cornell offered admission to just over 4,800 students during the regular
decision process.  As a university, it offered a place on the waiting
list to just over 2,500 students, and it denied admission to just over
10,000 students.
The remaining students either submitted an incomplete application or
withdrew their application before a decision had been made.
Demographic details of the Class of 2006 will not be available for
several more weeks.

4/2/02 The Dartmouth: “Admittance rate falls to 20%”
Acceptance letters for 2077 potential members of the Class of 2006 will
be mailed, a figure smaller than last year’s despite a 5% rise in the total
number of applications. The overall acceptance rate declined to 20% from
22.8% a year ago.
The number of non-white students admitted has risen to the highest levels
in the history of the College. Students of color sent more applications than ever before and received 37% of acceptance letters, up from 34.5% in 2001 and
28% just four years ago.
Over 7% of all acceptances were granted to international students this year,
a number that Furstenburg said is “the highest it’s ever been.” Although international students may be of any race, the admissions office does not
keep track of such statistics, and international students are categorized separately from students of color.
The Class of 2006 has similar qualifications to other recent classes: exactly 33% of all admitted students were high school valedictorians, and over 90%
were in the top 10% of their high school graduating classes. Average SAT
scores rose slightly over last year’s. Verbal scores rose a single point to 714 while math scores climbed two points to 723.
The number of legacies rose slightly from previous years, though Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Karl Furstenburg said the figure was “fairly consistent” with past totals. Legacy students continue to be admitted at rates higher than most other students. “When it’s a close call, the legacy status can
be a bit of an extra plus,” he said, noting that this situation occurs at all
selective institutions.

4/12/02 The Dartmouth: “Admission rates hit record low across Ivies,”
Dartmouth�s admittance rate fell from 22.8 to 20% while registering a 5%
rise in total applications. Dartmouth accepted 386 students through binding
early decision out of a total 2,077 students admitted. Early applicants to Dartmouth were accepted at a 35% clip, leaving students in the second round
to face an acceptance rate of under 20%.
Harvard admitted only 10.5% of applicants, sending out over 17,000 letters
of rejection.
Princeton had a 10.8% acceptance rate.
Yale granted admission to 2,008 students out of a record-setting pool of 15,443 applicants. The acceptance rate — which fell to 13% from 13.5% last
year — was the lowest in the school’s history.
Cornell had an overall acceptance rate of 24.4% this year, down from
25.7% last year. The drop occurred despite a slight decline in the total number
of applications.
At the University of Pennsylvania, 21.1% of students were admitted overall,
a record low. When only those who applied through regular decision are considered, however, the rate drops to 16.7%.
Columbia College received a record 14,106 applications.
Brown University was also the only Ivy to see a rise in its admittance rate
this year. The increase was coupled with a significant decline in early applications, which Brown Director of Admissions Michael Goldberger said
was “entirely due” to the university’s decision to scrap its non-binding early
action policy. The drop in students applying early resulted in an overall
decline to 14,608 applications from 16,606 in 2001, though the acceptance
rate only ticked up to 16.7% from 16% last year.

5/14/02 The Dartmouth: “Yield stays high for ’06s,”
The 53% yield for the class of 2006 is the highest in years and represents
an increase of two percentage points over last year’s figure. At 31%, the
percentage of non-white students is the highest ever.

4/11/02 Duke Chronicle: “Acceptance rate dips to record low,”
Duke issued acceptances this week to 22.5% of its regular decision pool.
The acceptance of 3,059 applicants–in addition to 506 students admitted
under the early decision process–to the Class of 2006 comes after a record
year for applications. A total of 15,860 students applied for admission, about
90% of them in the regular process.
Last year’s acceptance rate was 24.5%. The number of applications this
year was the most since 1987, when 15,120 students applied. The University
hopes to enroll about 1,616 students for the Class of 2006.
Duke’s applicant pool this year was also one of the most diverse in school
history, with a 9.5% increase over last year in students listing themselves as
members of minority groups. Overall, about a third of applicants this year were
minorities. The University did not, however, release the percentage of
acceptances sent to minorities, leaving open the question of whether the
diverse pool will translate to the freshman class.
Duke also received a record number of applications from international
students–about 1,200–but the number of those admitted was not available.

6/6/02 Duke Chronicle: “Yield keeps steady as applicants rose: Class of
2006 diversity also constant,”
Although undergraduate application numbers set a record high this
year and Duke’s acceptance rate was the lowest in school history,
matriculation yield remained a stagnant 43.4% for the Class of 2006,
according to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.
As of Tuesday, 1,620 high school seniors had told Duke they would
matriculate in August, up from 1,587 in 2001, when 44% of those accepted
decided to enroll. Director of Undergrduate Admissions Christoph Guttentag
said the final yield for this year and last should be almost identical, as his
office continues to hear from students accepted off the waitlist.
The number of applicants was an all-time high of 15,892.
Just over 33% of those matriculating listed themselves as a
member of a minority group when applying, about the same as last year.
Asian students again are the most highly represented, with a total of 239, or
just under 15%. Black students compose about 10.5% with 170 students,
along with 122 Latino students (7.5%) and five Native American
students (0.3%). About 61% of the class listed themselves as white, and
almost 6% did not select a race when applying. Guttentag added
that just 10 years ago, only 23% of the admitted class were
minorities.
Seventy-five of the matriculating students are from other countries.

4/9/02 Georgetown Hoya: “Admission to Class of 2006 Most Competitive
to Date,”
The number of applicants for the class of 2006 reached an all-time high of
15,534 students, and 3,012 were accepted. The total number of prospective students increased 1% over last year�s pool, following an 8% rise in
applicants the previous year. With a 19.4% admission rate, 87.9% of the class of 2006 admitted was in the top 10 percent of its high school class. The middle 50% of SAT verbal and math scores fell between 660 and 750 for admitted students, 722 of who were class valedictorians.

4/4/02 Harvard Crimson: “Class of 2006 Breaks Admissions Records,”
Harvard College accepted only 10.5% of its 19,605 applicants to the Class
of 2006. The racial distribution of this year�s admits resembles that of recent years. Asian Americans comprise 16% of the admits, blacks make up 9%
and Hispanics 7.8%.

5/15/02 The Harvard Crimson: “Minority Yields Unaffected By Scandal,”
Overall, close to 80% of admitted students to the Class of 2006 have chosen
to enroll in September, the highest yield in 30 years. The Class of 2006 will
also see a similar ethnic makeup as past years� classes. Blacks will comprise 6.9% of first-years, down slightly from 7.2% this year, while the percentage of Hispanic students will slightly rise to 3.9%, from this year�s 3.4%. The
percentage of Asian-American students saw a more significant rise, going
from 14.5 to 17.4% of the incoming class. With only 1,650 spots for first-years, Harvard admits slightly more than number, roughly 2,000 students, assuming
a small percentage of students will not accept.

4/3/02 The MIT: “1,689 students accepted out 10,644 for the Class of 2006”
MIT expects 1,000 (including 10 transfer students) of the 1,689 admitted
students to matriculate in the fall.  The class of 2005 yielded 1,033 students
from 1,787 admitted.

4/10/02 Princetonian: “Selectivity rises in Ivy League,”
Princeton admitted only 10.8% of applicants for the Class of 2006,
making this year’s process one of the most competitive on record.
Harvard admitted 10.5% of applicants, slightly lower than last year’s
10.7%. Harvard accepted 2,068 and rejected more than 17,500 students.
Dartmouth accepted 2,077 of 10,193 applicants, and its admit rate
went down from 22.8% to 20%.
Columbia admitted 1,637 students from 14,137 for the Class of 2006
and mailed acceptance letters to 11.5% of total applicants.
The U. of Penn accepted 3,690, a little more than 20% of the total
number of applicants.
Yale’s admission rate dropped by half a percentage point from last
year to an all-time low of 13%, welcoming 1,459 of the 15,443 applicants.
Brown was the only Ivy with a higher acceptance rate than last year.
Of the 14,521 applicants for 2006, 1,575 were offered admission.  Of those,
585 were admitted through the early decision program.  Brown Dean of
Admissions Michael Goldberger attributed the higher acceptance rate to the
university’s recent transition from a nonbinding early application to an early
decision program that drew fewer students.  Early applications to Brown
dropped from 5,200 last year to 1,900 this year, causing an overall decrease
in applications compared to last year.  Overall, Brown received 14,606, down
from 16,601 for the Class of 2005.  The acceptance rate only rose from 16%
to 16.7%.
Though Cornell had a slight drop in applications for the Class of 2006,
the admission rate across Cornell’s seven schools managed to drop from
25.7% to 24.3%, the Cornell Daily Sun reported. Cornell rejected slightly more
than 10,000 students.

3/28/02 Stanford Report: “Stanford offers admission to 2,320 for the Class
of 2006,”
Stanford will make offers of admission to 2,320 students for the Class of 2006.
Only 12.4% of the applicants for fall 2002 were offered admission, compared with 12.7% for fall 2001 and 13.2% for fall 2000. Total
applications held steady at approximately 19,000.
For the first time in the university’s history, more than half the admitted students are people of color: 13% are African American, 24% are Asian American, 10% are Mexican American, 3% are other Latino, and 2% are Native American/Native Hawaiian.
In addition, international students — from more than 40 countries — make
up 5% of the admitted class.
Roughly 90% of those offered admission, for whom class rankings were reported, were ranked within the top 10% of their high school class, and
nearly 75% of the admitted students earned a GPA of 4.0 or higher.

4/9/02 Swarthmore: “Swarthmore Admits 892 Students to Class of 2006,”
A total of 892 students, including 154 notified during early-decision
period, have been accepted � 23% of the more than 3,900 who applied.
Based on previous admissions patterns, Swarthmore expects the group of admitted students to yield a first-year class of roughly 375 for next fall.
Of the admitted students who come from high schools that report class
rank, 35% are valedictorians or salutatorians. 53% percent are in the top
2% of their high school class, and 93% in the top decile.
43% of the admittees identify themselves as American students of color.
Asian Americans make up 16% of the admitted class; African Americans,
12%; Latin students, 14%; 1% Native American/Hawaiian/other.
Canada, with five students, is the most common country of origin among international students in the admitted class. Four each are from France,
Hong Kong, Pakistan, and Thailand followed by three each from Bulgaria, China, Ghana, Japan, and Singapore.
9/12/02 Swarthmore: “The Class of 2006 by the numbers,”
375 students: 192 women, 183 men
1450 median SAT score
3,933 original applicants
24% offered admission
5% identify themselves as African American; 7% Latina/o; and
16% Asian American; 2% Native American/Hawaiian native/other, and 0.5% multiracial American
7% are international students

10/10/02 Swarthmore: “Swarthmore Opens Classes for 134th Year,”
The Class of 2006 includes 375 students.  The median SAT score for
the class is 1450.  The class comes from an original pool of 3,933
applicants, of whom 24% were offered admission.  Of the American
students in the Class of 2006, 16% identify themselves as Asian American.  7% of the class is made up of international students.

4/10/02 Tufts Daily: “Admission decisions sent to class of 2006.
The University admitted 23% of applicants from a record pool of
14,300 applications this year.
The racial diversity of applicants admitted to the Class of 2006 was
similar to that of last year’s class, although there was a sizeable increase
in the number of Asian American applicants admitted. This year, 11% of
admitted students are African American, 11% are Latino, and 20% are
Asian American. Last year, 10% were African American, 12% were Latino,
and 15% were Asian American.
On average, accepted students ranked in the top 6% of their high
school class.
The middle 50% of SAT I Verbal scores ranged from 640 to 740,
while for the Math portion it ranged from 670 to 750. Engineering
applicants were in the top 5% of their high school classes on average. The
middle 50% had SAT scores ranging from 640 to 730 for Verbal and from
710 to 780 in Math.
In the past few years, 30 to 37% of accepted students have enrolled
at Tufts.
Despite fears that Tufts would see a sizeable decrease in international
applicants in the aftermath of Sept. 11, overseas applicants were plentiful –
more, in fact, than the number of applicants from New Jersey, among the most represented states at Tufts.
Turkey, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada, China,
Japan, and Switzerland were the most popular countries represented. Over
17% of admitted students were foreign citizens, permanent residents, or US
citizens living overseas. Nearly 5% were dual citizens and for 26%,
English is not their first language or the language spoken in their home.

4/5/02 Daily California (Berkeley):  “Berkeley Admits First Class Using Comprehensive Review: Percentage of Underrepresented Minorities
Admitted Increases Slightly,”
For the fourth year since racial preferences were banned from the UC admissions process, the number of underrepresented minorities admitted to
UC Berkeley remained below levels established during the affirmative action
era.
The percentage of admits belonging to underrepresented minority groups increased slightly over last year, continuing a trend of gradual increase that
began after underrepresented minority admittance sharply fell in 1998.
In 1997, 22% of admits were American Indian, African American or Latino.
In 1998 that number fell to 10%. At 15.9%, the statistic slightly increased this
year over last. But with significant changes to university policy taking effect
since last year’s class was admitted, some officials had hoped for a more marked increase in minority enrollment.
The 2002 admits were the first class selected using the comprehensive admissions process that replaced a two-tiered system that accepted some students solely based on academics. And last summer, the UC Board of
Regents repealed the university provisions that banned affirmative action,
a move that had only symbolic significance because racial preferences
are still banned in state agencies by Proposition 209.
Assistant Vice Chancellor for Admissions and Enrollment Richard Black
said the numbers were not surprising. He also said that despite expectations
by some that the new admissions process would greatly boost minority enrollment, UC Berkeley admissions officials did not expect comprehensive review would significantly alter demographics. “This is really the fairest and
most thorough review we have ever had,” Black said.
But because of constraints on the campus’s growth, UC Berkeley officials reduced the number of students admitted from last year, accepting 8,492 students, 215 fewer than the previous year. The reduction ends a three-year
trend of slow growth that is needed to accommodate an influx of students
born of baby boomers, called Tidal Wave II.
With a record number of students applying for admission to UC Berkeley
and fewer being accepted, the campus became more competitive this spring. This year, only 23% of applicants were admitted.
Because fewer students were admitted, a move also required because
more and more students are accepting the offer to attend UC Berkeley, the numbers of students admitted in all ethnic groups declined. The largest
decline by percentage of the class was among American Indians, as only 42
were admitted.
The UC system as a whole grew 4.9% this year, despite the decline in the number of admits at its flagship campus. Slots as undergraduates at the
eight UC campuses were offered to 48,369 students. In the system over all, the number of underrepresented minorities did increase by 648 admits.
Latinos saw the biggest boost, with 515 additional acceptance letters
being sent to members of the ethnic group.
UC spokesperson Hanan Eisenman said comprehensive
review had only a “modest impact” on the minority enrollment increase, and instead credited outreach efforts for the gains.
Black said he hoped the regent’s repeal of their affirmative action ban
also played a role in greater minority acceptance. The regents’ repeal was intended to replace a welcome mat for minorities that some said had been yanked out along with affirmative action. The number of UC applications from minorities did increase this year as they did the previous year.
The number of applications from whites also climbed. The Berkeley
campus also received more applications from all ethnic groups except American Indians.

4/9/02 Daily Pennsylvanian: “Admission numbers drop for 2006: Only about
21% of total applicants were accepted this year,”
Of the 15,745 students who applied using the regular decision option this
year, only 2,635 people were admitted, comprising only 16.7% of all regular decision applicants. Last year, Penn accepted 18.2% of the regular decision applicants, the previous regular decision selectivity record. These candidates
join the 1,182 accepted under early decision, who together make up only 21.1% of all applicants, down from last year’s record low of 21.5%.
Last year, 58% of those accepted under regular decision matriculated, and
this year’s yield may push 60%.
This year, 2,496 of the 11,989 College of Arts and Sciences applicants were admitted, representing 20.8% of the applicants. Last year, 21.7% of the applicants were accepted. The Wharton School received 3,577 applicants, accepting 520 or 14.5%, up from last year’s 14%. However, the School of Engineering and Applied Science experienced a drop in applicants — contributing to an overall drop in applications to Penn this year — receiving
3,018 compared to last year’s 3,380. SEAS accepted 851 students for an acceptance rate of 28.2%, compared to an acceptance rate of 27.1% last year. And the School of Nursing accepted 93 of its 198 applicants, or 47%, down
from last year’s 57.1%.
The average SAT I score jumped seven points this year to a composite score of 1419. The average math section score went up six points to 722, while the verbal score underwent a modest increase of one point to 697. The average SAT II score went up five points from last year to 715, and the average high school GPA for the Class of 2006 is between 3.65 and 3.7.
Slightly more than 40% of the candidates are minority students, with 8.8% being of black or African-American, and 7.5% Hispanic.
This year, 9.5% of the acceptance letters went to students representing 78 foreign countries.

4/4/02 Yale Daily News: “Yale admits 2,008 to Class of ’06: 13% admit rate is lowest ever as applicants learn their fate online for 1st time,”
Yale sent acceptance letters to 1,459 students, inviting them to join the Class of 2006. With the record-high 15,443 applications Yale received this year, the competition for those 2,008 slots was tighter than ever before, yielding an admittance rate of 13.0%. Last year’s admittance rate was
13.5%, with 2,000 students accepted out of a total applicant pool of 14,809.
Of the people admitted to the Class of 2006, 42% are minority students.
Dartmouth College accepted 2,077 of its 10,160 applicants, while the Massachusetts Institute of Technology had 10,664 applicants and accepted 1,690 students.

 

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