October 23 | Campus
MEDIA CONTACT: Charles Loebbaka at 847-491-4887 or c-loebbaka@northwestern.edu
Freshman Class Profile: Record Applicants, Highest SAT Scores
EVANSTON, Ill. --- The mean combined SAT score for this fall's freshman class at Northwestern University is the highest in school history -- 1,422.That's 22 points higher than the class that entered a year ago, said Michael Mills, associate provost for undergraduate admission.
And 85 percent of the freshmen ranked in the top 10 percent of their class, another all-time high, according to Mills.
"The class that began school in late September attained the highest level of selectivity and, like previous classes, consists of students from diverse geographic and ethnic backgrounds," Mills said.
Northwestern received a record number of applications -- 21,941 -- an increase of 19 percent over 2006. That topped the record set in 2006 when applications increased 13 percent over the previous year.
The number of freshmen enrolled is expected to be slightly above the University’s target of 1,981 students when final numbers become available this month, Mills said.
Illinois residents represent 25 percent of enrolled students, the largest group from areas around the country; another 18 percent come from Midwest states. Other sections of the country represented in the freshman class are Middle States, 17 percent; West, 14 percent; South, 10 percent; New England, 5 percent; and Southwest, 5 percent. Six percent of the class is from overseas.
Minorities make up almost 32 percent of the freshman class. The percentage of Asian-American students increased 2 percent, to 19.2 percent. Latino students make up 7.4 percent of the class, the highest percentage in University history, while African-American enrollment is 5.6 percent. Fifty-six percent of the class is Caucasian.
The freshman class is composed of 53 percent women and 47 percent men, the same proportion as in the last 10 years.
A total of 1,081 students are enrolled in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, Northwestern's largest undergraduate school. The enrollment in other schools is McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, 352; School of Communication, 229; Medill School, 179; School of Music, 109; and School of Education and Social Policy, 32.