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Swarthmore Admits 897 From Record Application Pool

For Immediate Release:  April 3, 2006
Contact:  Tom Krattenmaker     
610-328-8534                    
http://www.swarthmore.edu/news/


Swarthmore Admits 897 Students to Class of 2010

Eighteen Percent Accepted from Record Pool of 4,850 Applications


 Swarthmore College has sent letters of admission to prospective members of the Class of 2010. A total of 897 students have been accepted-18 percent of the record 4,850 who applied. Based on previous admissions patterns, Swarthmore expects this group of admitted students to yield a first-year class of about 372 for next fall.
 
The 4,850 applications represent a 19 percent increase over last year's total. James Bock, dean of admissions and financial aid, attributed the record number of applications to increased outreach by the Admissions Office, demographic changes that are putting more 18-year-olds in the college pipeline, and the tendency among some aspiring college students to apply to a larger number of schools than in the past.

Also driving the increase, according to Bock, is a wave of positive national media coverage of Swarthmore students' social-action projects, including War News Radio and the Genocide Intervention Network. "Many of our applicants are citing these and similar student efforts in their essays; they're telling us they want to attend a school that produces this kind of active leadership," Bock said. "With this increased visibility in the press has come growing recognition that Swarthmore is not only an excellent liberal arts college, but one that is producing leaders who are having a positive impact on the world."
 
Of the admitted students who come from high schools that report class rank, 33 percent are valedictorians or salutatorians. Fifty-six percent are in the top two percent of their high school class, and 91 percent are in the top decile.

The admitted students come from five continents, 36 nations, and 47 U.S. states as well as the District of Columbia. California, the home state of 13 percent of the accepted students, is the most represented state in the newly admitted class. New York is next, with 12 percent. Following, in order, are New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas, Massachusetts, Maryland, Florida, Georgia, Virginia, Illinois, and Ohio.
 
China and South Korea, each with six students, are the most common countries of residence among international students in the admitted class. Three each are from India and Greece.  Two each are from Ghana, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Turkey. The following countries have one each in the admitted class: Bangladesh, Botswana, Bulgaria, Cayman Islands, Colombia, Ecuador, Germany, Israel, Latvia, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, Philippines, Romania, Sweden, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe.

Sixty-three percent of the admitted students come from public high schools, 21 percent from private independent schools, 7 percent from parochial schools, and 8 percent from schools overseas, and 1 percent are home-schooled.  Continuing the trend of recent years, more of the admitted students declare "undecided" as their intended major than any other. Next, in order, are engineering, political science, English, biology, economics, history, and physics.
 
Fifty-two percent of all accepted students identify themselves as domestic students of color. Asian Americans make up 21 percent of the admitted class; African Americans, 14 percent; and Latino/a students, 16 percent. One percent is in the category Native American/Hawaiian.

 

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