Vol. 20, No. 1

Sept. 7, 2000

Increasing number of students selecting UD

UD is the school of choice for an increasing number of high school students, according to Frederic Siegel, enrollment services. "This year, we received 18,166 applications from freshmen versus 14,107 in 1998–a difference of more than 4,000. "The result is we have been more selective, admitting 49 percent of the applicants, a sizeable decrease from other years. The result is this year's freshman class overall has a higher grade point average, higher class standing and higher SAT scores–1154 compared to 1145 last year," he said. "Our goal has been to have a freshman class of 3,200 to avoid the overcrowding of the past two years when more students chose UD than we anticipated, and we are right on target with 3,188 entering freshmen this year," Siegel said. The 3,748 new students, including 560 transfer students, arrived on campus on Aug. 26. Almost 35 percent are from Delaware, followed by approximately 17 percent from Pennsylvania and New Jersey. New Yorkers make up almost 13 percent of the class, and students from Maryland account for almost 8 percent. Other students are from all parts of the country, including five freshmen from the Virgin Islands. Eight are from overseas. There are 31 valedictorians, 27 salutatorians and 297 students with a grade point average of 4.00. There are 425 students enrolled in the Honors Program, with an average SAT score of 1323. From Delaware, 99 students have matriculated from St. Mark's High School, 86 from Newark High School, 57 from Glasgow High School, 52 from Salesianum School and Alexis I. duPont High School, 50 from Concord High School, 49 from William Penn High School, 45 from Chistiana High School and Caesar Rodney High School, 42 from Brandywine High School, 38 from Dickinson High School, 33 from Thomas McKean High School and 29 from Mount Pleasant High School. The incoming freshmen are an active bunch–57 percent were involved in sports (soccer was the game of choice), 52 percent participated in volunteer work or service clubs; 47 percent in social clubs, 28 percent in academic clubs, 22 percent in student government, 20 percent in school publications, 16 percent in music, 14 percent in radio stations, 13 percent in drama and 11 percent in tutoring. The number of new students applying over the web has increased from 3,151 last year to 3,580 this year. The majority of students are enrolled in the College of Arts and Science (1,919) and 803 of these have not declared a major. The College of Business and Economics has 392 freshmen enrolled; human services, education and public policy has 369; engineering has 237; health and nursing science has 174; and agriculture and natural resources has 111. There are 13 pairs of twins in the Class of 2004, and the oldest member of the class is 63 and the youngest is 16. The most popular name for men is Michael, and the most popular name for women is Jennifer. Statistics about the incoming students are subject to a slight change as the academic year gets under way. Official enrollment figures will be available in October.