May 31, 2004 Vol. 93, No. 28 Archives   Previous   Next Contents Page one • 'Tennenacity' Valedictorian demonstrates her distinctive brand of persistence • Salutatorian: From Latin to computer science, Tsang did not rest on his laurels Student news • Seniors awarded Labouisse prize for work in Brazil and Afghanistan • Turner wins Luce Scholarship to study bioethics issues in Asia • Bugging the bugs: Students collect data on cicadas; Campus a hospitable habitat for cicadas Inside • Weekly 'Go' game brings together eclectic group • Princeton scholars examine intersection of politics and religion • ID card office generating close to 17,000 new cards • Summer work scheduled for auditorium Sections • People, spotlight, briefs • Calendar of events • By the numbers   The Bulletin is published weekly during the academic year, except during University breaks and exam weeks, by the Office of Communications. Second class postage paid at Princeton. Postmaster: Send address changes to Princeton Weekly Bulletin, Office of Communications, Princeton University, 22 Chambers St., Suite 201, Princeton, NJ 08542. Permission is given to adapt, reprint or excerpt material from the Bulletin for use in other media. Subscriptions. The Bulletin is distributed free to faculty, staff and students. Others may subscribe to the Bulletin for $14 for the spring semester of the academic year (half price for current Princeton parents and people over 65). Send a check to Office of Communications, Princeton University, 22 Chambers St., Suite 201, Princeton, NJ 08542. Deadline. In general, the copy deadline for each issue is the Friday 10 days in advance of the Monday cover date. The deadline for the Bulletin that covers June 14-September 5 is Friday, June 4. A complete publication schedule is available at deadlines or by calling (609) 258-3601. Editor: Ruth Stevens Calendar editor: Carolyn Geller Staff writers: Jennifer Greenstein Altmann, Steven Schultz Contributing writers: Patricia Allen, Karin Dienst, Eric Quinones Photographer: Denise Applewhite Design: Mahlon Lovett, Laurel Masten Cantor, Margaret Westergaard Web edition: Mahlon Lovett

B Y   T H E   N U M B E R S

Graduate School admissions

According to a Report on Graduate Admissions, Financial Support and Future Plans presented at the May 17 faculty meeting by Graduate School Dean William Russel:

• In the expectation of increasing yields, the Graduate School reduced slightly the total number of offers for this fall to 1,047. Once again the overall yield increased to 52 percent -- the school's highest level in modern history -- producing an incoming class comparable to that entering last fall (540). The yield on Ph.D.s varies from 62 percent in the humanities to 42 percent in the natural sciences, indicative of both Princeton's favorable position in the former and the intense nationwide competition for graduate students in the latter.

• The number of applications received this year, 7,710, represents a 15 percent drop from 2003-04, returning roughly to the 2001-02 level. Other comparable institutions have experienced the same phenomenon. The final breakdown among regions of the world showed a substantial drop (41 percent) in applications from East and Southeast Asia, and smaller but still significant decreases from the rest of the regions, including the United States.

• The consensus among the "Ivy Plus" institutions attributes the decline from Southeast Asia to three factors: changes from electronic to paper GREs and limited schedules for tests in these countries; heightened anxiety about the ability of international students to obtain visas; and earlier deadlines initiated by many institutions.

• The significant drop in the number of applications from international students reduced the number admitted, but the acceptance rate remained high. A total of 36 percent of the incoming class are non-U.S. citizens or permanent residents, relative to 38 percent last year.

• In all, 130 countries are represented in the 2004-05 entering class. The top seven countries of citizenship outside the United States are China, India, Canada, Korea, Taiwan, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

 

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