Northwestern’s applicant pool for the class of 2010 reached 18,419, up 13 percent from last year, said Keith Todd, NU’s director of undergraduate admissions. This is the largest increase in applicants since 2004.

Although a single cause cannot account for the increase, Todd said the large applicant pool can be attributed to recruiters’ efforts and NU’s growing reputation.

“NU is a place that really does market itself in terms of students,” Todd said. “But you can never rest on your laurels. These students will have many other good offers.”

NU accepted slightly more than 5,200 students, and enrollment will be finalized after the May 1 deadline. Last year, more than 2,000 of the 4,784 admitted applicants submitted tuition deposits to hold their spot in the freshman class.

The number of enrolled students will continue to fluctuate as students choose to defer acceptances to travel, Todd said. About 20 athletes might enroll in NU after the athletic spring signing date, he said.

Incoming Weinberg freshman Eloise Ntekim received an e-mail notification last Wednesday and checked the status of her application on the Office of Undergraduate Admission Web site.

“It was really nerve-wracking having to type everything in,” Ntekim said. “It was a really long letter, and I couldn’t really focus. NU was the school that I really wanted to go to and my reaction to getting into NU was definitely the most emotional.”

Ntekim said her acceptance was special because she was chosen from a larger applicant pool.

“People are into the Ivies, but NU is a really great school,” she said. “Having that increase in people that want to attend shows that people are acknowledging this.”

This year’s applicant pool was also affected by the miscalculation of SAT scores, Todd said.

The College Board announced March 23 that its scanning vendor, Pearson Educational Measurement, scored 4,411 tests lower than the students’ actual performance merited.

The College Board gave NU a national list of all affected applicants immediately after the error was discovered March 17. No more than 40 NU applicants were affected, scores were altered by no more than 30 points, he said. Admissions staff had enough time to examine each case and make appropriate decisions, Todd said.

“No students were hurt,” he said.

Todd said it is too early to determine the racial breakdown of the incoming freshman class. Additional demographic information will be available in early June, after students confirm their acceptances and the admissions office takes applicants off the waiting list, he said.

With NU’s recent adoption of the Common Application, it is likely the applicant pool will increase further next year, Todd said. But NU is ready to deal with fluctuating pools.

“We’ll stay on the same calendar as our peers,” Todd said. “We have internal plans to make sure all of the reading gets done. We’re used to dealing with increases.”

Reach Margaret Matray at [email protected].