University accepts 11.9 percent for Class of 2008

Dean of Admission Janet Rapelye admitted 1,631 of 13,690 applicants to the Class of 2008, her first class since assuming her new job last summer.

"The admitted students have superb leadership and personal qualities, and possess talents and achievements in areas such as dance, theater, music, athletics, art, politics, debate and community service," Rapelye said in a news release.

At 11.9 percent, the overall acceptance rate is 2 percent higher than the rate for the Class of 2007 — a difference that can be accounted for in the decrease in the number of applicants.

In early March, Rapelye said that though the number of applicants to the Class of 2008 was down this year compared to the previous year, the number of "academic 1's" — students who received the highest possible rank on the admission office's scale that rates the academic quality of candidates — had increased while the number of weaker candidates had decreased.

A total of 1,050 letters were sent on Thursday to students admitted under the University's regular decision plan — only 8.8 percent of the 11,875 students who applied under regular decision. A total of 581, or 32 percent of the 1,815 students who applied under the University's early-decision program were admitted.

Class dynamics

All 50 states and the District of Columbia are represented in the Class of 2008 admitted-students pool, along with students from 50 foreign countries, including Bangladesh, Cameroon, Morocco, Peru and Zambia. According to Rapelye, 9.2 percent of the students hail from foreign countries.

Of those admitted, 35 percent are from minority backgrounds and 11.2 percent are legacies. While the number of minorities remains unchanged, the number of legacies is up a slight 0.7 percentage points compared to the Class of 2007. Men, at 53 percent, make up a slightly larger portion of the class than women.

Of those students admitted, 47 percent also received financial aid offers. Rapelye did not report the number of students who are the first generation in their families to go to college.

Students from 5,382 different schools applied to the University this year — an 11 percent drop when compared to the Class of 2007.

Emphasis on yield

Rapelye, in an interview with the The Daily Princetonian last month, emphasized that more effective enrollment management can only be achieved through a dual-track approach, ensuring that more qualified students apply and, once admitted, that more students accept the University's offer of admission.

In order to fill the Class of 2008 — currently targeted at 1,175 students — the University needs roughly 57 percent of those students offered admission under the University's regular-decision plan to accept Princeton's offer.

In order to help students choose the University, "we will be calling the admitted students during 'phonathons' over the next few weeks [and] our faculty will be writing to the students who have an interest in their departments," Rapelye said in an email Thursday. She added that alumni across the country will continue to host receptions for accepted students.

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However, perhaps the most significant change to this year's post-admission recruitment plans is a change in schedule for the April Hosting "Pre-Frosh" Weekend which will run from Thursday, April 22 to Saturday, April 24, as opposed to the traditional Friday to Sunday.

"The program will begin on Thursday so students will have more opportunities to visit class," Rapelye said.

She denied that the change in schedule had anything to do with Newman's Day, the campus drinking holiday which occurs annually on April 24.

"We wanted the students to have more class choices," she said. "Arriving Thursday ensured that they would be able to sit in on the classes and departments in which they were most interested."