Admissions rate dips slightly

At 7 o'clock tonight, nervous high school seniors from across the world will check online to see if they are among the 3,183 lucky students admitted regular-decision to Duke for Fall 2004. Chances are, they are going to be disappointed.

 The University's undergraduate admission rate dropped again this year to just over 22 percent, as admissions officers chose a total of 3,679 regular- and early-decision applicants from a pool of 16,702. Last year, slightly more students were admitted from an applicant pool almost exactly the same size as this year's, for an admission rate of 22.5 percent.

 Director of Undergraduate Admissions Christoph Guttentag said this year's group of admitted students is stronger than last year's, but the difference is not as great as that between the Class of 2007 and the Class of 2006. Nevertheless, he said he was quite pleased with the admissions process this year.

 "This leap between last year and the year before was dramatic. The difference between this applicant pool and last year's applicant pool is not quite as dramatic, but it is still noticeable to us," he said. "I think with the last two classes, we are a step closer to bringing to Duke the ideal class, which has academic strength, a real interest in learning, students from a variety of backgrounds and students with multiple talents. Many of the best students are both exceptionally bright and exceptionally well-rounded, and I think that Duke is a terrific place for students that manage both to have fun learning and have fun outside of the class as well."

 The reduced number of admission offers this year is a result of the Board of Trustees' desire to have a smaller freshman class, Guttentag said. The target size for the Class of 2008, 1,602, is nearly 30 students smaller than last year's incoming freshman class. The Trustees' lower target means there is a higher-than-normal population of rising Duke sophomores, juniors and seniors.

 In advance of a 50-student planned increase in the class entering the Pratt School of Engineering in Fall 2005, the number of applicants to Pratt increased by 7 percent this year, from 2,444 to 2,732. In contrast, the number of applicants to Trinity College actually declined from 13,987 to 13,777.

 Guttentag said this increase in Pratt applicants, continuing a trend of several years, was good news for the school's selectivity in light of the projected four-year, 50-student-per-year increase. "Since the entering class in Pratt will be roughly 50 students more than it is this year," he said, "it's been a priority of ours to increase the number of applicants to Pratt in particular, and I'm pleased that we're achieving that."

 Students were originally supposed to be able to check their admissions results online March 30, with paper letters sent April 1, but Guttentag said he delayed the web posting one day to make sure that the web letters of admission, rejection or placement on the waitlist matched the paper letters. There are many types of letters sent to students, depending on a number of personal factors such as family ties to the University or whether the student was a deferred candidate from the early-decision period, he added.