Duke Receives Record Number of Applications

For the second consecutive year, Duke University has received a record number of applications from high school seniors.

This year's application total of 16,656 surpasses by more than 750 the number of applications received last year (15,894). Before 2002, the previous record -- 15,120 -- was set back in 1987.

Christoph Guttentag, Duke's director of undergraduate admissions, said one reason for the increase is this is the second year that Duke has offered need-based financial assistance to international students. In 2003, 1,364 international students applied for admission, an increase of 164 over last year's total of 1,200. The year before aid was available to international students, a total of 712 foreign students applied.

Guttentag said the increase also reflects Duke's "ability to be more active in our recruitment in the last several years. The administration has been very supportive of our efforts, and the admissions staff has worked incredibly hard to let students and their parents know how much Duke offers its undergraduates."

Guttentag noted that the quality of the applicants to Duke has also improved. "It's a real step up from last year -- and last year's class had the strongest credentials we've seen."

Duke has received nearly double the number of applicants who scored a perfect 1,600 of their SATs -- 199 this year, 103 last year; 2,405 applicants had SAT scores above 1,500, compared to 2,015 last year and 1,867 the year before; and 4,300 had board scores above 1,450, compared with 3,900 in 2002 and 3,600 in 2001.

"While I'm naturally thrilled to have such a strong and large applicant pool from which to choose next year's class, I'm also very aware that there are thousands of exceedingly qualified students who we won't have room for this year," Guttentag said. "Choosing the class will be a real challenge."

Duke expects its next incoming class to have 1,625 to 1,630 students. In December, 472 high school seniors who applied early decision were notified that they were the first members of Duke's Class of 2007. The rest of the class will be established this spring, when regular-decision acceptance letters are mailed.

Other records broken this year include: total number of applicants to the Trinity College of Arts and Sciences (13,933); total number of applicants to the Pratt School of Engineering (2,723); total number of African-American applicants (1,572) and total number of Asians/Asian Americans (3,251).

In addition to an increase in international students, Guttentag said Duke experienced a surge in applications from California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri and New Jersey. The number of applicants from North and South Carolina was slightly down from last year's record totals. "Last year we had a 24 to 25 percent increase from both North and South Carolina, which I believe was in part a reaction to 9/11," Guttentag said. "Parents just wanted their children to go to college close to home, I think."

Guttentag said two-thirds of the applicants indicated they will apply for financial aid, compared to 64 percent last year. Duke invests more than $40 million in undergraduate financial aid each year. About 43 percent of Duke undergraduates receive financial aid. Duke admits students without regard to their ability to pay and then meets their full demonstrated financial need.

"I'm very pleased that we were able to build on last year's record number of applications," Guttentag concluded. "I'm especially pleased that our increase in selectivity last year did not discourage students from applying.

"It's tempting sometimes to take these numbers for granted, especially since we've seen applications increase in six of the last seven years. But when you think of it, it's impressive that almost 17,000 high school seniors across the country and around the world would consider Duke as one of the colleges they'd most like to attend."