[Chronicle]

March 7, 2002
Vol. 21 No. 11

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    College applicant pool up 10 percent over last year

    By Carrie Golus
    News Office

    This year’s applicant pool for the undergraduate College is the biggest ever.

    A total of 8,179 students applied to the University this year, a 10 percent increase over last year.

    “When we planned for the expansion of the College, we concluded that we needed 8,000 applications to maintain quality,” said Michael Behnke, Vice President and Dean of College Enrollment. “We’ve reached that goal a year early.”

    The biggest increases, 20 percent each, came from Illinois and from the West. Applications from African Americans increased by 30 percent and applications from Hispanic/Latino students increased by 38 percent.

    Regular applications are currently being reviewed. Decision letters will be sent out Wednesday, March 27.

    As previously reported, early applications also were at an all-time high this year. Though more students were admitted––1,114 compared to 973 last year––the admit rate dropped from 54 to 46 percent.

    Among early applicants, the percentage of students ranking in the top 5 percent of their class is now even higher: 73.1 percent, up from last year’s 71.3 percent.