The number of applicants to Cornell for fall 2002 remained level with last year's number, and the admit rate remained stable, while the admitted students are a more diverse group, said Doris Davis, associate provost for admissions and enrollment.
A total of 21,500 students applied for undergraduate admission, compared with 21,518 a year ago, and 6.5 percent more than the previous year. Of those 21,500 applicants, a total of 6,013 were admitted, for an overall admit rate of 28 percent, up slightly from the 27.2 percent final admit rate for fall 2001, but down from 30.6 percent the previous year.
A total of 2,679 applicants, or 12.5 percent, applied for early decision for next fall, compared with 2,589 early decision applicants last year, Davis said. She added that 42.8 percent of early decision applicants were admitted and 25.9 percent of regular applicants were admitted, compared with 42.6 percent and 23.3 percent, respectively, a year ago.
"The results are very strong," Davis said. "This year was just as competitive as last year. We're now waiting for students to respond to the offers of admission, so it's too soon to know just how the class is shaping up."
Admissions aims to enroll an entering class of 3,000, but the yield on acceptances has increased over the past few years and is difficult to predict, Davis said. A strategic enrollment plan was implemented successfully last year to better manage the university's overall enrollment.
The admit rate for last fall was 51.9 percent compared with 51.1 percent the previous year.
Davis noted that the admitted students are more diverse both racially and geographically. According to Davis' Preliminary Undergraduate Admissions Report, 33.4 percent of all admitted students are persons of color -- including African-American, Hispanic, Native American and Asian/Asian American, Hawaiian/Pacific Islander and bi/multicultural -- compared with 30 percent a year ago. And while 27.8 percent of admitted students are from New York state, that compares with 30.2 percent a year ago. And there is significant representation from New England, the mid-Atlantic and the Far West -- 43.1 percent from those regions compared with 40 percent a year ago. Another 8.4 percent are international students, compared with 7.1 percent last year.
Admitted African-American students represent 5.2 percent, Hispanic students 5.9 percent and Asian/Asian-American students 17.4 percent of the total admitted, according to the report. Those figures compare with 6.2 percent, 6 percent, and 17.5 percent a year ago, respectively.
Total underrepresented minority students, which includes African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans and Pacific Islanders, admitted for fall 2002, is 865, or 14.4 percent. There is no comparable data for last year due to a change in the way the data was gathered.
Davis said it still will be a few weeks before demographic information is complete on the Class of 2006.
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