Accepted class is more diverse; applications were down 5 percent

By Jacquie Powers

The quality of Cornell's applicant pool remains excellent, and the class admitted for fall 2003 is more diverse, although the number of applicants declined by 1,058, according to Doris Davis, associate provost for admissions and enrollment.

Cornell received 20,442 applications for fall 2003, down 5 percent from the 21,500 applicants a year ago, Davis reported.

Davis

"Application numbers were down most noticeably in the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Engineering," Davis said. "We believe that the sluggish economy has affected applications overall, and particularly to the endowed colleges. But despite the decrease in applications, the quality of the applicant pool continues to be excellent."

Of the 20,442 applicants, a total of 6,341 were admitted, for an overall admit rate of 31 percent, up from the 28 percent final admit rate for fall 2002 and the 27.2 percent admit rate for fall 2001, Davis said. Admission was denied to 50 percent of the total applicants, while 13 percent were wait-listed, she added.

A total of 2,730 students, or 13.4 percent, applied for early decision, 2 percent more than last year, Davis said. She added that 41.3 percent of those early decision applicants were admitted, as were 29.4 percent of regular decision applicants, compared with 42.8 percent of early decision applicants and 25.9 percent of regular applicants admitted a year ago.

Davis said the admit rate this year increased primarily because the size of the freshman class was increased from 3,000 to 3,050 students. She added that the yield on acceptances has increased over the past few years but is difficult to predict. A strategic enrollment plan was implemented successfully two years ago to better manage the university's overall enrollment.

Applications were down 7.5 percent in the College of Arts and Sciences and down 11.5 percent in the College of Engineering. They also were down 14.1 percent in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations and 5 percent in the College of Human Ecology. Applications were up 12.3 percent in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, 1.6 percent in the School of Hotel Administration and 8 percent in the College of Architecture, Art and Planning.

Davis noted that the admitted students, as a group, are more diverse, both racially and geographically. According to Davis's Undergraduate Admissions Report, 34.2 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 students, compared with 33.4 percent a year ago. The number of admitted students from New York state was 27.4 percent, slightly lower than the 27.7 percent a year ago. And there is significant representation from New England, the mid-Atlantic and the Far West -- 44 percent from those regions compared with 43.1 percent a year ago. Another 8.7 percent are international students, compared with 8.4 percent last year.

Total underrepresented minority students, which includes African-American, Hispanic, Native American, Pacific Islander and bi/multicultural students, admitted for fall 2003 is 888, or 14 percent, compared with 865, or 14.4 percent last year.

Davis pointed out that Cornell now offers applicants a self-service Web site that allows them to check on the status of their applications and learn of their admissions decisions. Each applicant was given the opportunity to establish a self-service account, complete with their own unique password.

"The new system worked very well," Davis said. "Applicants were very pleased with the results."