Six hundered fifty-three prospective students, the largest group in the University's history, participated in spring open house last Thursday, according to Dean of Admissions Gil Villanueva. A total of 7,722 students applied for the Class of 2012, and the University is looking to maintain or improve its 34 percent admissions rate from last year. In addition to the admitted students, a total of 1,172 guests, including parents and siblings, visited campus, compared to 1,090 last year and 858 the year before. This year's visiting admitted students are compared with 540 students last year and 443 the year before.

Villanueva declined to disclose this year's admission rate because the Admissions office could not yet factor in admissions from the wait list, he said. The target class size for the fall semester is 750 students, he said, in addition to between 90 and 100 midyear students who will enter in spring 2009.

According to a New York Times article from April 1, the number of high school graduates has grown yearly over the last 15 years and is expected to peak this year or next, increasing the competition for places at top colleges and universities.

"I would attribute [the rise in visitors] to the fact that Brandeis is certainly gaining more and more in terms of national stature, and it absolutely helped that we had such a glorious, glorious, beautiful day," Villanueva said. When the Admissions office noticed last week that this year's number of registrations was slightly below last year's, it sent out another round of reminders about the open house, he said.

"This campus sells," he said. "I think it's important that [the new students] feel wanted."

The number of students to apply for the Class of 2012 marked a 2 percent increase over last year's 7,561 students. Four hundred-fifty eight students applied early decision, about a 20 percent increase from last year's 359 students.

"It's nice that more and more students are identifying Brandeis as their top choice," Villanueva said.

The New York Times article reported that many universities were reporting record low admissions rates, ranging from 7.1 percent at Harvard, 8.3 percent at Yale to 13 percent at Brown University and Dartmouth and 18 percent at Georgetown.

"We compete against some of the top schools in the country, . and there's such a small number of students that we are competing for," Villanueva said. "We're literally competing for the top 2 to 3 percent" of students in terms of academic rigor, performance and test scores.

The median SAT score of admitted students this year is 1405 out of a 1600 scale and 2110 out of a 2400 scale These numbers do not indicate the data for the final admitted class. Fifty-five percent of the admitted students are female; 45 percent are male. Top regions are the Middle Atlantic area, with 38 percent, and New England with 28 percent. The most popular state is New York, accounting for 20 percent of admitted students, followed closely by 19 percent from Massachusetts, according to Villanueva.

"Our total international applicant pool this year is the highest we've ever had," Villanueva said, with 1,229 applicants with non-U.S. citizenship. The University admitted 197 students, 8 percent of all admitted students.

He pointed out that 13 percent or 319 admitted students self-identified as first-generation college students, a statistic he called "really good" and important in terms of the University's social justice mission. Twenty-six percent of admitted students self-reported themselves as members of a minority group.

Villanueva said the acceptance rate in the early decision rounds was 52.4 percent, or 240 students. Last year 359 students applied early decision, and the University accepted 204 students, 56.8 percent of those who applied.

During the open house, students expressed satisfaction with the classes they attendeed. Zach Herman, an accepted student from upstate New York, thought an American Studies class with Prof. Stephen Whitfield (AMST) he sat in on was interesting. He also said he liked the buildings on campus, adding however that the "architecture is problematic."

Danielle Zipkin, from Long Island, N.Y., sat in on some English classes, her prospective major. "They were both really interesting, and ironically, both about books that I've already read, so I was able to keep up on the classes," she said."

"Everybody was kind and helpful when I asked questions on campus," Ilyana Rosenberg, from Oregon, said. Rosenberg did an overnight stay, attending a performance by Manginah in the evening. "That was really good. I enjoyed hearing them," she said. "I'm pretty sure right now [about coming]--I wasn't really sure coming in, but after I visited, I think I'm a lot more definite about my decision." She said she was thinking about majoring in the sciences with a minor in business.