For the 19,358 applicants who applied to become part of Duke's class of 2010, the wait is over.
Today, the University is mailing decision letters to more than 18,000 applicants. Decisions became available online at 6 p.m. Thursday. Only 3,778 students won admittance, including the 470 accepted in December through early decision.
The Office of Undergraduate Admissions accepted roughly 19 percent of applicants this year, the lowest rate on record. They hope to enroll 1,665 students, reflecting an expected yield of more than 40 percent.
"The increase that we saw in regular decision [applications] this year was not expected," said Christoph Guttentag, dean of undergraduate admissions.
There were 17,857 regular decision applications, 7 percent more than last year. Guttentag said that number usually rises in proportion to the change in early decision applications, which grew only 1.9 percent this year. Because of the disparity, the University offered admission to a smaller-than-planned fraction of seniors applying through regular decision.
"I think if we had known... we might have made some different decisions," Guttentag said.
He was quick to note that he did not regret accepting any of the students who received early admission.
"I think [the class of 2010] will be as intellectually or academically accomplished or powerful as last year's class," Guttentag said. He added that on a personal and extracurricular level, "They may be even more impressive than the current first-year class."
The University sent out 171 fewer acceptance letters than last year, not counting students admitted from the waitlist, despite a stable target class size.
Last year, an unexpectedly high fraction of the strongest admittees chose Duke, leading to an overly large class of 2009, in which a record 1,724 students enrolled.
Many of the admitted students will be on campus this weekend for Latino Student Recruitment Weekend and Duke Up Close, an invitational event for some of the most qualified applicants. The students' visit comes during a period of high publicity for the University, due to the recent controversy surrounding the men's lacrosse team.
"The main thing we will be telling the students is [that] whatever happened at the off-campus party is not representative of the student body and of the University as a whole," Guttentag explained. "For the students that host visiting students, we don't expect them to do anything other than talk about the Duke they know."
High school underclassmen touring campus seemed generally unfazed by the heavy media presence, saying that their interest in the University was unaffected.
"I think basically [visiting admitted students] are coming with different questions that maybe they wouldn't think about [otherwise]," said junior Catarina Rivera, co-president of Mi Gente, the Latino student group that helps to organize LSRW. "I don't know how their perception of Duke is being affected."
Rivera said a bigger challenge was rescheduling events following the elimination of the men's basketball team from the NCAA tournament.
An all-time high of 1,234 Latino high school students applied this year, a number that Rivera said includes international students from Latin America. She noted that the establishment of a Latino community on campus has helped recruit students who identify with that minority.
The applicant pool also included record numbers of black and Asian/Asian-American students, and the trend toward increasing interest among international applicants continued.
"I think the community is really going to love the first-year class," Guttentag said.
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