Yale College Welcomes Class of 2006

The 644 women and 660 men who make up the Yale College Class of 2006 will arrive on campus on Friday, August 30.

The 1,304 members of the class were selected from among 15,466 applicants, a record number. The admissions rate of 13 percent, down from 13.8 percent for the Class of 2005, reflects a trend of increasing selectivity in the admissions cycle. Of the 2,009 students who were admitted, 66 percent chose to attend the College, continuing a record of strong yields in recent years.

“The Class of 2006 is representative of the most academically qualified and competitive young people in higher education today. We are honored that after being admitted to Yale they have decided to attend,” said Richard H. Shaw, dean of undergraduate admissions and financial aid.

Nearly 40 percent of the Class of 2006 has qualified for need-based financial aid grants from Yale. The average student scholarship grant for the Class of 2006 is $21,599 per year. The total Yale financial aid budget for these students for the 2002-03 academic year is expected to exceed $11.3 million. None of this scholarship money is in the form of student loans or pay for campus jobs. Yale’s financial aid policies are designed so that every student who is admitted may attend, regardless of ability to pay.

The incoming freshmen represent 47 states, 45 foreign countries, and four U.S. possessions. They include 500 students from the Northeast, 248 from the West, 138 from the Midwest, 125 from the South, 86 from the mid-Atlantic states, and 83 from the Southwest. International students make up nine percent of the class.

The most popular majors indicated by the incoming students are molecular, cellular and developmental biology, 10.5 percent; political science, 7.2 percent; economics, 5.3 percent; and English, 5.3 percent. Majors in all areas of engineering represent 6.8 percent of the class. The students’ median SAT scores were 730 in verbal and 730 in math.

Freshmen will engage in various orientation activities until classes begin September 4. Yale President Richard C. Levin and Yale College Dean Richard H. Brodhead will deliver their annual Freshman Addresses at 10 a.m. on September 2 in Woolsey Hall.