After a dip in the number of regular decision applicants last year, the Class of 2012 may be the most selective in Duke's history.
The Office of Undergraduate Admissions said it has received 20,250 regular decision applications for the next freshman class. It is the first time the number of applications has surpassed 20,000-the previous record year was 2006, when Duke received 19,387 applications.
"What this shows is that the quality and attractiveness of Duke continues to remain very high among the best students in the country and indeed the world," said John Burness, senior vice president for public affairs and government relations.
Duke saw large increases in the number of alumni children applicants. The number of applications from international, Hispanic and Asian students also broke previous records.
Additionally, there were significant increases in the number of applicants from Florida, Texas, Virginia, Massachusetts, Michigan and Alabama.
"We've been interested in Texas and Florida-two states that are experiencing growth in the number of 18-year-olds," said Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Christoph Guttentag. "We wanted to make sure that we recruited fairly aggressively."
He added that Trinity College of Arts and Sciences received a record number of applications, and the Pratt School of Engineering received its second-highest number of applicants.
"I certainly expect we'll be more selective and the decisions will be harder," he said. "It's not just a larger pool but a stronger pool, and the end result is that there are students we won't admit this year that we would have admitted last year."
Guttentag said a large applicant pool allows the Class of 2012 to better approximate an ideal class. He pointed to talent, diversity and civic engagement as defining characteristics of an exceptional student body.
"I'm very pleased," said Provost Peter Lange. "[These numbers are] a testimony to the underlying quality and reputation of the University and also to some of the new programs we've announced."
Lange cited DukeEngage and a recent change to financial aid as factors that may have helped attract applicants.
"We've made a point of making sure that people learned about DukeEngage," Guttentag said. "As the Financial Aid Initiative and DukeEngage more firmly become part of the Duke experience, we'll see their effect [on admissions] actually increase."
Duke's regular decision deadline was extended this year from Jan. 2 to Jan. 14. Guttentag said the change was because of the financial aid changes announced in December.
"We realized that there were going to be some students, on the basis of the [financial aid changes], who decided to apply to Duke," he said. "We didn't want students and families to worry excessively... so we thought [the extension] would give students the opportunity to make a rational decision and for the high schools to follow through in a timely way."
Guttentag added that the Office of Undergraduate Admissions actively informed high school students of the financial aid changes throughout December.
"We sent an e-mail to every senior on our mailing list, we sent a postcard to every senior and [we] created a Web site about the new financial aid policies," he said.
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