Tufts' Class of 2005 floods campus today, as 1,170 first-year students move into dorm rooms, meet roommates, and participate in the University's matriculation exercises.
Twenty three percent of applicants were accepted to this year's incoming class in the University's most selective admissions process to date. The Admissions Office chose the class from 13,700 applicants, a decrease from last year's record-breaking pool of over 14,000 applications.
"We're having two interesting experiences," Dean of Admissions David Cuttino said. "One, that the percentage of students admitted has dropped and two, that the percentage of students accepting admission has increased significantly."
Selecting a diverse student body remains one of the admissions office's goals. Students of color constitute 33 percent of the incoming class.
African-American students comprise ten percent of this year's class, a two percent rise eight percent last year. The percentage of Latino freshmen rose from nine percent in 2000 to ten percent this year.
Conversely, the number of Asian-American students enrolled declined from 15 to 13 percent this year. Cuttino said the number of Asian Americans admitted by Tufts remained constant; the number of accepted students who decided to matriculate, he said, went down.
"Our expectation was the size of the class' Asian American [population] would be stronger than it was. We're not where we'd like to be in terms of Asian American enrollment," Cuttino said.
The number of Asian-American students has dropped, risen, and dropped again since the class of 2000, which had 192 Asian American students, the highest number in Tufts history. The class of 2004 had 187 Asian American students; this year's class has 144.
"I'm not sure exactly why we have this drop with this incoming class, which I feel is very concerning," said Linell Yugawa, director of the Asian American Center.
The admissions office enrolled nearly 60 percent of the incoming students through early decision, the largest percentage ever, part of a national trend.
Admissions officers say early decision candidates are desirable because these applicants are guaranteed to matriculate. The process complicates the admissions process, however, as officers must predict applicant trends to ensure that regular decision applicants are of similar caliber to those accepted early.
"If you look at objective characteristics, they have typically mirrored characteristics of [early decision] students," Cuttino said.
An increased number of international students enrolled this year - 19 percent of incoming students are foreign citizens, permanent residents, or US citizens living abroad, up from 15 percent last year. Four percent are dual citizens, and ten percent are non-resident aliens. International students comprise 15 percent of the entire student body, a figure that may increase if the international student yield continues to grow, Cuttino said.
For some incoming students, diversity of the student body constituted a major concern. "It's very pleasant to see such a diversified student body," freshman Zijiang Yang said.
The international student body also attracted freshman Tanya Beja, as did the school's location and reputation. "I wanted to study in Boston," Beja said. "It's a good academic institution and there are lots of international students, that's important to me," added Beja, who hails from Mexico.
The class as a whole continues a trend of increasing selectivity. Tufts accepted 25 percent of applicants to the class of 2004, as opposed to the 23 percent mark for the incoming class. The number of admitted students electing to enroll increased by four percent.
Thirty percent of the class ranked one, two, or three in their graduating high school class, and the average class rank falls in the top ten percent. The median SAT scores was between 590 and 700 for verbal and 620 to 720 for math. These scores were lower than last year's ranges, which were between 610 and 700 for verbal and 630 and 700 for math.
Students represent 800 high schools in 44 states and 41 countries, which Cuttino said creates a diverse environment for the freshmen. "It's more than test scores," he said.
"The fun is getting beyond that - who will make this a more rewarding place to be and add dimensions to a class."
