The Office of Undergraduate Admissions admitted a total of 497 Early Decision (ED) applicants this year, 150 of whom were accepted through Early Decision II.
The acceptances made up the largest ED class since 2003. All students were admitted on a need-blind basis, in which a student's ability to pay is not considered during the admissions process.
The group of accepted ED students represents 38 percent of the Class of 2013's projected 1,300 students, Dean of Admissions Lee Coffin said in an e-mail. He did not provide the total number of ED applicants.
Forty-two percent of the accepted ED pool qualified for financial aid, a three-percent increase over last year.
"Considering the external economic conditions, that small increase in aid candidacies suggests the economy did not have an immediate impact on our admission process, although I know many families are expressing concern as the economy continues to falter," Coffin said.
The 249 women and 248 men who were admitted come from 36 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands and 21 foreign countries.
Many demographic-related statistics remained consistent with last year's, Coffin said, including the 17 percent of admitted students who are domestic students of color, eight percent who have an international background and 60 percent who attend a public high school.
This year's Early Decision class set new records in every SAT testing category, with mean SAT scores of 699 in the Critical Reading section, 710 in Math and 707 in Writing. The three-part combined score increased to 2116, 12 points over last year's score.
Coffin added that approximately 80 percent of the admitted Early Decision applicants rank in the top 10 percent of their high school classes, with the mean class rank at the 8th percentile.
"Overall, the Early Decision cohort for the Class of 2013 is the most accomplished in Tufts history," Coffin said.
The university offers three main paths toward undergraduate admissions: ED I and II, both of which are binding, and Regular Decision (RD), which is not binding.
For the Class of 2013, ED I applications were due on Nov. 1. Prospective students had to submit Early Decision II and RD applications by Jan. 1; the admissions office sent out ED II decisions on Feb. 5. Transfer applications are due on March 1.
ED applicants received one of three decisions after submitting their applications; each one was accepted, deferred or denied. Accepted ED applicants must enroll at Tufts, deferred applicants are transferred to the RD applicant pool and denied applicants are ineligible to reapply for admission in the same year.
RD results will come out in April.
