</p>
<p>ith an 11 percent increase in applications, Dartmouth awarded early admission to 400 students. Dean of Admissions Maria Laskaris ’84said this year’s early decision was “more selective than it’s ever been.”</p>
<p>Out of the 1,428 early decision applicants, the 201 men and 199 women admitted — 28 percent of all applicants— comprise what Laskaris called “an academically accomplished, diverse and multitalented group of students.”</p>
<p>Early admitted students represent 37 percent of the expected Class of 2012, with the rest of the class admitted through regular decision in April.</p>
<p>In a memorandum sent to the applicants’ guidance counselors, Laskaris said that of the 1,428 early applicants, 526 were deferred and 471 were denied admission. Seventeen other students were notified that their applications were incomplete. The memorandum did not account for the additional 14 students. Laskaris could not be reached for comment on the additional applications by press time.</p>
<p>Although deferred students will be reviewed again with the regular decision applications, the memorandum noted that in recent years less than 10 percent of deferred applicants have gained admission to the College.</p>
<p>Laskaris noted that this year’s accepted students were among the strongest she’s ever seen.</p>
<p>Twenty percent of the students admitted are the valedictorians of their high schools and 11 percent are ranked second, consistent with past years. Eighty-nine percent were ranked in the top ten percent of their classes.</p>
<p>The middle 50 percent of accepted students’ SAT scores were between 640 and 760 in Critical Reading, 670 and 770 in Math and 680 and 760 in Writing.</p>
<p>53 percent of those admitted attended public schools, up from 50 percent in 2006. 42 percent attended private schools, while five percent attended parochial schools.</p>
<p>Sixty-five admitted students are sons or daughters of Dartmouth alumni, a slight increase over last year’s 58 percent.</p>
<p>Most of the accepted students were from New England, the mid-Atlantic and the West, Laskaris said. As more than 60 percent of the Class of 2012 has yet to be admitted, Laskaris said this distribution could change after the regular decision process.</p>
<p>[TheDartmouth.com</a> | Early applications increase 11 percent from last year](<a href=“http://thedartmouth.com/2008/01/07/news/earlyapps/]TheDartmouth.com”>http://thedartmouth.com/2008/01/07/news/earlyapps/)