Release date: 18-Mar-05

Emory Has Record Undergrad Applicant Pool Again

Emory University received a record number of applications for admission to the incoming class of Emory College, the university's main undergraduate division. There are 12,004 applications, a 7 percent increase above last year's record pool. The most significant growth is in international, Hispanic, Georgia and African-American applicants.

"We have seen consistent significant increases in international applications in the last five or six years, but this year we had a 23 percent increase," says Daniel Walls, dean of admission. He attributes the growth to cumulative recruiting efforts and a growing reputation for Atlanta in many parts of the world thanks to entities such as The Carter Center, CARE USA, the Coca-Cola Company, Home Depot and UPS based here.

The strongest geographical growth comes from the Middle Atlantic region (up 10 percent), the Southeast (up 7 percent) and a record number of Georgia students (up 6 percent to 1,523). Other regions saw more modest gains of 2-3 percent. Emory also has recorded its largest number of African-American and Hispanic candidates as well.

Early Decision I applications rose by more than 14 percent (up to 617 from 539 last year), and Early Decision II applications were up 22 percent (440 from 361). Despite the record number, Emory admitted roughly the same percentage of the class through early decision as the previous year--41 percent. "Our goal was not to admit a greater number of applicants," says Walls. "The students were just as good, but we could be a bit more selective."

The cream of the crop are the 2,200 high school seniors nominated for the Emory Scholars merit scholarship program. Roughly 75 finalists for those highly competitive scholarships will be on campus March 30-April 2 for interviews and campus activities.

According to Walls, no one specific factor accounts for the overall record pool. He cites ongoing recruiting efforts--including targeting younger high school students--a growing number of high school seniors, and students applying to more schools thanks to the ease of online applications.

Record applicant numbers:
Total applicants: 12,004 (up 7 percent)
International: 885 (up 23 percent)
African-American: 1,670 (up 5 percent)
Georgia: 1,523 (up 6 percent)
Hispanic: 675 (up 13 percent)

Students will be notified by April 1 of their acceptance.

Emory University is known for its demanding academics, outstanding undergraduate college of arts and sciences, highly ranked professional schools and state-of-the-art research facilities. For nearly two decades Emory has been named one of the country's top 25 national universities by U.S. News & World Report. In addition to its nine schools, the university encompasses The Carter Center, Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Emory Healthcare, the state's largest and most comprehensive health care system.

Subscribe to News@Emory RSS feeds for automatic updates of the latest news at Emory.

Back