The Tufts Office of Undergraduate Admissions this year saw a three−percent increase in applications, paralleling the nationwide trend of larger applicant pools and lower admissions rates.
Tufts this year received 15,437 applications, the third−largest applicant pool in the university's history. 24.5 percent of applicants were offered admission, down from 26.6 percent last year, making this Tufts' second most−selective admissions cycle.
Applicants on March 31 were notified of their admissions decisions online. Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Lee Coffin said that the ongoing economic recovery had visible effects on this admissions cycle.
"The biggest trend we saw this year was a restoration of normalcy after last year's economic craziness," Coffin said. "People took a deep breath and looked around and saw that they could still apply to college and still give a thought to high−cost and high−quality education."
Coffin described this year as a year of record selectivity for colleges and universities across the country. Many schools have reported this year as the most competitive year in their admissions history, with many Boston area schools seeing significant increases in applicant numbers.
There was a five percent increase in the number of applicants to Harvard University, which had a 6.9 percent admissions rate. At Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), applicant numbers rose by 6.2 percent, and a reported 9.7 percent were accepted.
Coffin explained that this trend was largely a function of individual students increasing the number of schools they apply to.
"What is happening is that students are applying to more and more colleges, so it is giving a false sense of volume," Coffin said. "There is the same number of students applying to more places."
The admissions office this year reviewed applications in a need−aware manner, as they were no longer able to use a need−blind approach. The university had in previous years attempted to be completely need−blind, successfully admitting the Classes of 2011 and 2012 without regard to financial circumstances.
The economic downturn last year forced the suspension of need−blind admissions toward the tail−end of the process, prompting this year's shift in practice, according to Coffin.
"Last year we tried to be need−blind and we were until the last five percent," Coffin said. "This year, going in we just decided we need to be realistic, and unfortunately that meant that we couldn't be completely need−blind."
Coffin called the two years that the university was fully need−blind an exception, noting that Tufts would be unable to revisit the concept of being need−blind until the university concludes the Beyond Boundaries capital campaign and has time to reengage donors.
He did explain, however, that all applications were initially read need−blind, and students' financial situations were only taken into account in the decision−making room.
"I think it is important to read a folder and say ‘Who is this?' and then only when we start the decision−making process finances start to be a consideration," Coffin said.
Fifty−four percent of accepted students applied for financial aid this year, down one percent from last year. Coffin said that financial aid officers were still working on aid packages, but he anticipated a four percent increase in need−based aid expenditures for the incoming class.
One new addition to Tufts' application — the optional submission of a one−minute video — received significant national media attention.
"It was a tiny part of our supplement, and it caught fire in the media," Coffin said. "It really captured people's imaginations."
Coffin was unsure as to whether students applying for the Class of 2015 will be given the option of submitting a video as well. He added that each year in mid−May, the admissions committee reevaluates the previous year's application.
According to Coffin, all college admissions officers will be keeping an eye on the number of students from California who enroll. He citied the University of California system's significant budget cuts, which might prompt students to apply to private East Coast colleges like Tufts.
"A lot of colleges have seen an increase in their California pools," Coffin said. "We are waiting to see if we see if we have more matriculated students from California this year."
Californian students make up about 10 percent of each class currently enrolled at Tufts, making California the third most represented state on campus after Massachusetts and New York, according to Coffin.
Turning to the waitlist, Coffin said that although Tufts generally does not rely heavily on it, this year a few hundred students were placed on the waitlist. Approximately 40 students last year were taken off the waitlist, compared to none or only a handful in years prior.
Coffin said that the admissions committee this year modeled its acceptance rate based on an expected yield of about 33 percent.
"What we have learned is that every student we admit is generally co−admitted by about seven other places," Coffin said. "So as the dean of admissions, I try and figure out how many students to admit if I am trying to build a class of 1,275 students."
Coffin hopes for a high matriculation rate this year.
"The enrollment deadline is May 3, and all I can do now is wait," Coffin said. "I am keeping all my fingers and all my toes crossed for a good yield this year."
He noted that the profile of this year's accepted applicants is similar to what he described as last year's "best−ever finish."
Ninety−one percent of accepted students rank in the top 10 percent of their high school class, up one percent from last year, and the middle 50 percent of accepted students scored between 690 and 770 on each of the three sections of the SAT.
Thirty−two percent of admitted students self−identify as U.S. students of color, a two−percent increase from last year. The accepted class has representatives from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and 65 countries. Thirty−eight percent of students admitted to the School of Engineering are women, a five percent increase from the Class of 2013.
The admissions office this spring will host three April Open House days, during which admitted students will be invited to visit campus and stay overnight with current students.
"We will keep the format the same as in the past few years," Coffin said. "The feedback has indicated that people really enjoy April Open House days."
