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Class of 2008 applications set new record

Lou Hirsh, director of admissions: “There is a tradition that began about seven years ago, of our bringing in stronger and stronger entering classes. I’m pleased to tell you the trend has continued. We also received more out-of-state applications than any other public university in America.”

6:07 p.m., May 28, 2004--The University of Delaware has received a record number of applications for enrollment in the freshman class for fall 2004, Lou Hirsh, director of admissions told the Board of Trustees at its spring meeting on Tuesday, May 25, in the Trabant University Center.

Potential students are applying to Delaware in record numbers, while the quality of the student applicants continues to grow, Hirsh said.

“There is a tradition that began about seven years ago, of our bringing in stronger and stronger entering classes,” Hirsh said. “I’m pleased to tell you the trend has continued. We also received more out-of-state applications than any other public university in America.”

Hirsh also said the average SAT scores and grade point averages (GPAs) of the 22,166 applicants for the Class of 2008 are higher than any previous year, with nearly 1,100 applicants having SAT scores of 1400 or higher.

“The average applicant to UD is in the top quarter of his or her graduating class,” Hirsh said. “We also received applications from virtually every state in the Union.”

Of the 3,450 students entering UD this fall, Hirsh said that more than half have SATs of 1200 or higher, compared to 37.5 percent in 2001.

Hirsh also noted that 1,250 members of the incoming class are Delawareans, with approximately 70 percent of the applicants gaining admission to UD’s Newark campus, while an additional 20 percent will be admitted to the Associate in Arts Program. UD has admitted 564 students into the Associate in Arts Program, and, to date, nearly 300 have accepted offers of admission, Hirsh added.

“We continue to pay special attention to Delaware residents,” Hirsh said. “When we admit students, Delawareans are always first in line.”

Out-of-state students

After 1,250 Delawareans were admitted, more than 19,000 out-of-state applicants competed for the remaining 2,200 places in the freshman class for this fall.

The average out-of-state enrollee will arrive at UD having graduated among the top 16 percent of his or her high school class, with an SAT of 1221, up from 1155 just five years ago.

With such an academically qualified pool of applicants, Hirsh said other factors must be taken in consideration when offering admission to out-of-state students.

“Since we can admit only some of those qualified students, our selection process goes beyond high school GPAs and SAT scores to look at such factors as leadership, community service and accomplishments in sports or the performance arts,” Hirsh said. “Over half of the fall 2004 class has been involved in some kind of volunteer or community service.”

Students of color

The Class of 2008 will include the largest number of under-represented students of color, including African Americans, Hispanic American, Native American and Pacific Islander American individuals.

“To date, 390 students have accepted our offer of admission, and with Asian students, we will have more than 500 students of color, comprising nearly 15 percent of our entering class,” Hirsh said. “For the first time in our history, we will enroll more than 200 African-American students in our freshman class.”

High-ability students

Hirsh said that the average honors enrollee will have graduated from high school in the top 5 percent of his or her class and will come to UD with an average SAT of 1363 and a 3.94 GPA.

Among the high-ability applicants who are not enrolled in the Honors Program at UD, more than 30 percent have SATs of 1400-1490, and more than 50 percent of incoming students not in an honors program have SATs in the 1300-1390 range.

“This suggests that UD is very attractive to high-ability students, whether or not they are interested in participating in the Honors Program,” Hirsh said. “I believe this has a lot to do with the signature features of a UD education that include freshman entry programs such as LIFE [Learning Integrated Freshman Experience], Study Abroad, Undergraduate Research and Service Learning.”

Admissions facts

The UD Admissions staff:

• Read more than 22,000 applications from nearly 3,000 high schools;
• Sent mailings to more than 130,000 high school sophomores and juniors nationwide;
• Participated in more than 800 high school visits, college nights, college fairs and panels where they met approximately 30,000 prospective students; and
• Conducted 900-plus admissions sessions drawing over 30,000 prospective students and parents for a look at a campus that the Princeton Review called “simply the most beautiful campus anywhere.”

A presentation also was made to the Board of the Trustees by Provost Dan Rich, who discussed faculty accomplishments over the last year.

At the end of the meeting, Charles Elson, Edward S. Woolard Jr. Chair and director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance, discussed the work of center and its activities and programs.

Article by Jerry Rhodes
Photo by Kathy Atkinson

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