As Brandeis bids farewell to the class of 2002, preparations are underway for the arrival of this fall's incoming first-year class. Brandeis administrators say they expect a class of roughly 800 undergraduates. The University admitted 41 percent of applicants, and one in three of those accepted students chose to attend Brandeis."It's a high quality class academically, and it's more diverse in a variety of ways," Vice President for Students and Enrollment Jean Eddy said.

"This is the first class for whom the events of 9/11 helped shape their decisions … In terms of how far away they wanted to be from home, if they wanted to be away from home," Director of Admissions Deena Whitfield said. "Although, I can still say that California is fourth in terms of the number of enrolled students in the class." Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey are still the states most represented at Brandeis.

Fifty-four percent of the incoming class is female, down from 56 percent last year.

Whitfield said the new class comes from 40 states and 20 countries. The most international first-years come from Turkey (10) and India (nine).

"(Brandeis) increased the number of International students by 10 — about a 20 percent increase from last year," Whitfield said.

"I am also pleased to note that we have had success in increasing the overall number of both African-American and Hispanic students, enrolling 20 more students than last year," Eddy wrote in an e-mail to the student body.

"We doubled the number of African-Americans from last year. We increased the number of Hispanics by 50 percent. The Asian population is pretty much stable," Whitfield said.

Last year, the University did not enroll any Martin Luther King Scholars and administrators said that, in choosing to whom to offer the award this year, they offered it to students who seemed to want to go to Brandeis. Whitfield said the MLK scholarship is offered to students of color who "show great academic qualities as well as extracurricular leadership and commitment." In addition, there is a need component to the award.

"We chose more carefully, and we did more personal contact before and after … We are very pleased to have 10 — count them: 10 — Martin Luther King Scholars," Whitfield said.

In addition, more Justice Brandeis and Presidential scholarships are being awarded than were last year.

Whitfield was enthusiastic about the talents of incoming first-years. She mentioned nearly a dozen matriculating students. One woman from Ohio, for example, coordinated the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day volunteer activities throughout Cleveland, but is also a glass artist. Another student is bilingual, performs in musical theater, and has conducted nephrology research and is testing and studying two newly marketed medications for chronic kidney failure. And, a third woman from North Dakota is the youngest member of the state's semi-professional youth symphony, captain of the math team and a Sunday school teacher.

"I think this is going to be an exceptional class and what makes them particularly exceptional is the degree to which they wanted to come to Brandeis," Eddy said.

"One of the things we looked at (in applicants) was how often they contacted us," Eddy added. Whitfield said this is the third year Brandeis has had over 6,000 applicants.

Last year, 743 first-years matriculated, compared with 859 the year before. As a result, administrators said they felt the need to alleviate the housing crunch as well as balance the unexpectedly large class of 2004. "Last year we intentionally tried to bring in a smaller class," Eddy said.

To keep the University's goal of 800 matriculating students this August, the University has admitted students from its waitlist. Eddy wrote in the e-mail to undergraduates that this action is in response to the decision of other universities — including Harvard, Tufts, New York University and Cornell — to go to their waitlists as well.

"The goal was 800, and we are basically expecting to meet it," Eddy said.