Princeton admits 1,791 to a ‘most selective’ class

Princeton has offered admission to 1,791 students, or 9.5 percent of the record 18,942 students who applied to join the Class of 2011.

“The size, depth, and strength of this record applicant pool meant that we had to make some difficult decisions,” said Dean of Admission Janet Rapelye. She noted that the University had to be “the most selective [it] has been in recent history.”

Of the admitted students, 53 percent are men and 47 percent are women. International students make up 10.6 percent. About 44 percent of the admitted U.S. students are minority students. (The University would not release a specific racial breakdown.) About half of the admitted students are being offered financial aid.

The University declined to release figures on legacy acceptances, but Rapelye told The Daily Princetonian that they were similar to last year. Alumni children made up 9.9 percent of those admitted to the Class of 2010.

This year, alumni volunteers had personal contact with an unprecedented 95 percent of applicants. The applicant body was strikingly accomplished: Almost one-third had a 4.0 cumulative grade-point average, and more than half had a combined score of at least 2100 (out of a possible 2400) on the three sections of the SAT.

Acceptance letters were mailed March 29 to 1,194 students who had applied through the regular-decision process. Another 597 students were admitted as part of Princeton’s final year of early decision.

About 1,245 students are expected to enroll, 25 more than this year.

For the first time, applicants were able to learn of their admission status and aid awards online. More than 13,000 students checked their decisions in the first 12 hours, Rapelye said.