U. admits 4,960 students into Class of 1999

2,427 students have enrolled Jericho High School '93 Jericho, N.Y. Only 33 percent of high school applicants were accepted to the University this year, making it one of the most selective classes in recent history, according to Admissions Dean Lee Stetson. Of these, 2,427 students enrolled in the Class of 1999. But Stetson said he expects to lose approximately 100 students before September. He said students typically withdraw for three reasons-- getting taken off of waitlists at other schools, being unable to meet the financial commitment or because they want to take a year off. Regular decision applicants were accepted at a rate of 25 percent, compared to 32 percent last year. Out of the 15,050 applicants, 4,960 students were admitted, Stetson said. "This was the most challenging selection in my tenure of almost 18 years," he added. The number of admitted students climbed 25 over last year's 4,935 accepted students. The average combined Scholastic Aptitude Test score for the enrolled group was 1286 -- 686 in math and 600 in verbal. This total is 11 points higher than last year's class. The average achievement test score was up eight points to 637. And the average applicant ranked in the top three percent of his class versus four percent last year. At least one student from every state was admitted to the University, Stetson said. This includes one from Wyoming, two from both North and South Dakota and three from Montana --the states most at risk of under-representation. Despite the University's efforts, no students enrolled from either North or South Dakota, Montana or Idaho. But four students enrolled from Utah, and nine from Nevada. There will be 217 international students in the Class of 1999. This is up 46 from last year's figure. Of the students admitted, 3,256 were accepted into the College of Arts and Sciences. And 1,505 of these students sent in positive replies. Stetson projected that 1,480 of these students will enroll. Wharton accepted 607 students--up from 571 last year. Stetson attributed this increase to a stronger academic pool, making it necessary to accept more students in order to yield 380 matriculants. There were 425 students enrolled in May. The School of Engineering and Applied Sciences accepted 1,047 applicants up from 1,020 last year. Stetson said he would like to see between 360 and 380 enroll. While 419 of these students accepted, Stetson said he expects to lose some of these students to waitlists. The Nursing School, which suffered a 25 percent decrease in applications this year, accepted 108 of its applicants. Only eight of these were male. Stetson said 78 of these students have enrolled. There were 120 students accepted to the Management and Technology program, and 51 into the International Studies programs. Women will make up 49 percent of the class. Stetson said this number is equivalent to last year's, adding that in the past it has been 43 percent. The number of minorities accepted to the University dropped this year from last year's 1,911 to 1,864 -- making up 37 percent of the admitted students. Of these, 804 enrolled-- which is up from 794. While the number of enrolled black students was down nine to 145, Stetson said he expects this figure to increase by the fall due to continued recruiting efforts. The number of Asian Americans was up 12 to 524 and the number of Hispanic students increased by seven to 130. The University enrolled 120 students from Philadelphia high schools. This number is up from last year's 107.

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