Students accepted for Northwestern’s class of 2013 are higher-achieving and more diverse than last year’s pool of accepted students, according to statistics released by Michael Mills, associate provost for university enrollment. However, while other top universities became more selective, NU increased its acceptances.
NU accepted 27 percent of about 25,000 applicants, compared to 26.2 percent last year, Mills said. He added that NU accepted 6,864 students for the class of 2013 – 312 more than last year.
Harvard University admitted a “record-low” of 7 percent of students, according to the Harvard Crimson, and Brown University admitted 10.8 percent compared to 13.3 percent last year, according to the Brown Daily Herald.
There also has been a slight increase in minority students accepted to NU, Mills said. Compared to 37.3 percent last year, 39.5 percent of the accepted class is classified as “underrepresented” students, which includes Latino, African-American, American Indian, Alaskan native and Asian-Americans, he said. The number of international students admitted increased from 5 percent to 5.8 percent as well.
“It’s the best year we’ve ever had in terms of all of those underrepresented categories, the best we’ve ever done for kids who would be first-generation college students, low-income students and minority students,” he said.
As a group, the accepted students not only show more diversity but also have higher test scores, Mills said. For students admitted from ranked high schools, 93 percent were in the top 10 percent of their graduating class, up 1 percent from last year. The average SAT score of admitted students is 1473 out of 1600, an 11-point increase from last year, he said.
Despite NU’s increases, college application statistics have taken an interesting if inexplicable turn, Mills said. While the number of students applying to liberal arts colleges has decreased, the number of students applying to “really selective universities” like NU has remained the same or even increased, he said.
“Nobody really knows what’s going on here,” he said. “They’re equally expensive institutions. Both types of schools have equal kinds of financial aid.”
One theory Mills suggested was that high school students are pursuing pre-professional majors because they want the certainty of a job after graduation. Universities like NU have hundreds of majors, whereas the selection of majors at liberal arts institutions is smaller, he said.
Mills also expressed concern that the economic downturn will cause qualified students to take a gap year before applying or choose less expensive institutions to save money.
But now, with NU aiming for a class size of about 2,025, the decision is up to the students, who will make their deposits “in the next month or so,” he said.
Wildcat Days offers activities for newly accepted students, including campus tours and overnight stays.
NU tour guide Jessica Abels said students’ increased interest in the university is clear – already this quarter, pre-tour information sessions have needed to be extended from the admissions office to University Hall and the John Evans Alumni Center.
“The tours have been really full lately,” the Medill junior said. “This is probably the busiest time of year.”
