Tufts University Welcomes Class of 2013

The following is an announcement from Tufts University:

Tufts University welcomed 1,313 new students to the Class of 2013 in what Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Lee A. Coffin called “a lucky symmetry.”

The new undergraduate class emerged from an international applicant pool of 15,041, the fifth consecutive pool of more than 15,000 applicants, and its academic profile is arguably the best of any entering class in Tufts history:

– 85 percent ranked in the top 10 percent of their high school class
– 56 were valedictorians and 28 were salutatorians
– 56 were National Merit Scholars
– The average SAT scores were 712 Math and 709 Critical Reading (Verbal), with a combined score of 1421—a new high. Since 2003, the enrolling mean SAT at Tufts has soared 88 points, from 1333 to 1421.

One hundred twenty three are first-generation college bound. The class includes two U.S. patent holders, a gold medalist at the National Geographic World Championships, nationally ranked speed skaters, a three-time national chess champion, and a captain of the U.S. National Debate Team.

“As is always the case in a competitive environment that can accommodate one in four candidacies, ‘voice’ enhanced the data and determined the outcome of most applications,” according to Coffin. “Creativity is high and they think outside the box.”

The university’s 154th class matriculates from 41 American states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Thirty-eight nations are represented.

Nearly 10 percent reside overseas and 160 have an international background of some kind. South Korea, Singapore, India, Canada and the United Kingdom are the largest international delegations in the new class, but the array of foreign backgrounds includes students from Bangladesh, Ecuador, Ghana, Indonesia, Italy, Oman, Russia, Sri Lanka and Thailand. A language other than English is spoken in the homes of 14 percent of the class.

Massachusetts tops the list of home states with 299 freshmen, but, continuing a recent trend, California comes in at the third spot and the West Coast represents 11 percent of the incoming students. Domestic students of color represent 24 percent of the class.