Release date: March 5, 2004

Applications to Emory College Hit Record High

Applications to Emory College have hit a record high for the second year in a row. The number of applicants for the fall of 2004 are 11,155, up from 10,372 last year. This represents an increase of 7.5 percent and 13 percent in the last two years.

Dan Walls, dean of admission for Emory College--the university's primary undergraduate college--says there is not one definitive reason for another record year of applicants, but does credit the campus' new facilities and a broader recruitment effort.

"We have implemented some additional recruiting techniques in the last few years, including starting to reach out to high school sophomores instead of just juniors and seniors. This incoming class is the first group of students that we would have targeted as sophomores, so we have a sense that the outreach is paying off."

"The Schwartz Center for Performing Arts, the Math & Science Center and the living-learning Clairmont Campus, all have opened within the last two years. It's hard to believe that visiting students and their parents wouldn't be impressed by these new facilities that are largely meant for undergraduates. Of course, our location in Atlanta is a huge plus for us too."

While Walls and his staff are pleased to have so many students striving to attend Emory, there is an element of "be careful what you wish for": The admissions staff now has the monumental task of reading all 11,155 files and selecting 1,250 outstanding students before May. 1.

Growth in applicants comes from every region of the country, but the most dramatic rise is a 14 percent increase in the Southwest (to 7 percent of the total pool). There also was an 11 percent increase in international applicants after a slight dip last year (6 percent of the total pool). Additional increases were fairly evenly distributed across regions: 9 percent increase in the Southeast (37 percent of total)--including 8 percent from Georgia (13 percent of total), New England increased 9 percent (8 percent of total), Midwest increased 8 percent (11 percent of total), Middle Atlantic region increased 5 percent (21 percent of total) and the West held steady at 10 percent of the applicant pool.

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