When classes resume on Wednesday, Sept. 4, Yale will open its doors to approximately 5,340 undergraduates, including the 1,415 freshmen who make up the Class of 2000.
This is the largest entering class in at least a decade, a result of the high percentage of students accepting Yale's offer of admission. That percentage rose from 55 percent last year to nearly 61 percent, the highest yield in 25 years. The freshmen were selected from an applicant pool of 12,952 -- the third largest in the history of the College surpassed only in 1994 and 1987.
The students are a varied and talented bunch, says Margit Dahl, director of undergraduate admissions. "The consistency of Yale's freshman class profile is remarkable from every measure of strength. This year's freshman class is outstanding."
In addition to an array of scholars, writers, athletes and musicians, one Canadian student is a world-class debater and the first member of Team Canada from Quebec in over 10 years. Another, from West Virginia, judges dairy cattle for the 4-H's national competition. A freshman from Nairobi is the third person from his village to attend any university anywhere. Another is the magician who emceed the 1995 National Convention of American Magicians, dressed in glittering sequined regalia. Yet another member of the Class of 2000 comes from rural Arizona and is an expert knife thrower.
Women make up 49.2 percent of the freshman class, men 50.8 percent, and 30 percent of the students identify themselves as members of a minority group. Most of the freshmen hail from the United States every state but Nevada, South Dakota and Wyoming is represented and 126 come from 50 different foreign countries, including Croatia, Cyprus, Guatemala, Jordan, Kenya and Zimbabwe.
The class is drawn from 946 different high schools worldwide. About 56.5 percent of the entering students attended public high schools; 30.6 percent, private schools; and 6 percent, parochial schools. The remaining are listed as "other" or "unassigned," including some of the foreign schools.
Median SAT scores are 730 verbal and 720 math. Almost 20 percent of the freshmen are undecided about their future major, but for those who have designated a field of study, the most popular choices are biology 166, English 83, engineering 83 and economics 79.
Among the entering freshmen, 9.2 percent have at least one parent who attended Yale College and another 3.5 percent had a parent who pursued graduate or professional studies at Yale.
Nearly 41 percent of the incoming freshmen qualified for and received need-based financial aid.
Twenty transfer students will also join Yale College this year.