Boston University’s class of 2007 is the ‘strongest in the history of the university,’ Office of Admissions director Kelly Walter said Friday.
Of the 29,332 applications received by the Office of Admissions, BU accepted 45 percent, Walter said.
Students granted admission have an average SAT score of 1331, 28 points higher than last year’s average, Walter said. Next year’s class also has an average GPA of 3.64 and are, on average, in the top 8 percent of their high school classes, Walter said.
Last year’s class had an average SAT score of approximately 1300 and ranked in the top 15 percent of their class.
‘This is a truly exceptional class,’ Walter said. ‘They are phenomenal.’
Acceptance letters were sent March 20, and the admissions officials expect to know the size of next year’s freshman class by mid-May, Walter said.
BU has set a target number for the freshman class at 3,935 students, which is smaller than the number accepted for the 2002-2003 academic year, Walter said. Because of the smaller target size and a larger number of applicants, Admissions officials were more selective in deciding which students to admit this year than in the past, Walter said.
BU is also considered a competitive institution, a distinction partially defined by having an acceptance rate of less than 50 percent, Walter said. Therefore, she said it was important for BU to keep its admission rate below the 50 percent mark.
Walter attributed the increase in the quality and number of applicants to several factors, including increased outreach initiatives and better publicity campaigns.
She said the Office of Admissions has attempted to highlight BU’s internship, study abroad and honors programs, as well as research opportunities available on campus in order to reach ‘high-caliber high school students,’ Walter said.
‘When I talk to families and guidance counselors, I routinely hear Boston University’s name on lists that include many of the Ivy leagues and other institutions such as [Pennsylvania State University] and [New York University],’ Walter said.
Walter also said urban campuses can be desirable and popular because of the opportunities they offer to students. Event with recent terrorist threats to urban areas, students are still coming to the Eastern seaboard’s large cities.
‘The post-9/11 world has not deterred students,’ Walter said. ‘It has had a reverse effect. Students are drawn to urban locations.’
Walter said the Office of Admissions was confident in January it would be a competitive year for admissions.
‘We admitted fewer and stronger people,’ Walter said. ‘We are fortunate that our profile was as strong as it is.’
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