Incoming students are most academically prepared in history

Contacts:
Rhonda Zurn, College of Science and Engineering, rzurn@umn.edu, (612) 626-7959

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (11/15/2010) —A recently released profile of the students in the College of Science and Engineering fall 2010 freshman class shows that the college continues to attract the best and brightest students. The current freshman class is also the largest incoming class in history with 914 students compared to 875 students last year and 799 students just five years ago.

The average ACT composite score of incoming College of Science and Engineering students increased from 29.6 last year to 30.1 in fall 2010, the highest of any college at the University and the highest ever in the college. This is nearly three points higher than the 27.3 average ACT score 10 years ago. College of Science and Engineering first-year students had an average SAT score of 1358, also the highest of any college at the University.

The college had almost half of the University’s National Merit Finalists while the college’s freshmen only make up about 17 percent of the incoming class on the Twin Cities campus. In addition, College of Science and Engineering students in the University Honors Program had an astounding average ACT score of 33.8.

“We are very pleased that we continue to attract top-notch students into our science, mathematics and engineering programs,” said Paul Strykowski, College of Science and Engineering associate dean for undergraduate programs. “We think prospective students see that we value both classroom instruction and research to create a quality educational experience for undergraduate students.”

The number of women first-year students in the college also has reached an all-time high with 232, which is 25.4 percent of the incoming class. Last year, the college had 203 women first-year students (23.2 percent) and 10 years ago the college had just 151 women first-year students (17.9 percent).

The overall number of applications for admission into the College of Science and Engineering has skyrocketed in recent years from about 2,500 applications in 2000 to more than 7,000 in 2010.

“We know that students today often apply to more schools, but we are seeing faster growth in applications than many other colleges in the region, “ Strykowski said. “We’re not exactly sure why, but we believe that our college’s outreach efforts to K-12 students are a contributing factor in attracting more students into our physical sciences, mathematics and engineering programs.”