Even before incoming students enter the University, they are setting records for GW.

The University accepted a record-low 36 percent of those who applied for undergraduate admission, a statistic administrators say highlights the high caliber of this year’s incoming class.

GW’s graduate schools were also more competitive this year. Diane McQuail, the assistant dean of Admissions at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences, said the school received 13,273 applications, the highest number of medical school applicants in the country, and the school’s record-high number of applicants.

John “Skip” Williams, University provost and vice president for Health Affairs, attributed this increase to the new hospital, track programs in global health, public health and policy and urban policy and to a nationwide increase in medical school applicants.

The GW Law School received 5.3 percent more applicants this year. The school received approximately 10,350 applications and accepted about 500 students for the fall – 19 percent of its applicant pool. Last year, the Law School accepted 23 percent of its applicants.

“This year’s applicant pool is the strongest we have ever seen,” said Anne Richard, associate dean of admissions for the Law School. “Likewise, we expect that the fall 2007 entering class will be the strongest in the history of the Law School.

Senior Vice President for Student and Academic Support Services Robert Chernak said the incoming freshman class will be about 2,200 students in size – a number about 200 students less than the incoming Class of 2006 – but that “the result (is a) much better average quality” of student attending GW.

One way the incoming freshman class’s high quality is evidenced is the average SAT score of those admitted – a 1945 out of 2400, which is 20 points higher than last year’s average. Additionally, 67 percent of students admitted this year are in the top 10 percent of their class, compared to 65 percent last year.

“Quality went up tremendously,” said Kathryn Napper, director of Undergraduate Admissions.

The class of 2011 is also very diverse. The new students hail from more than 1,500 high schools, 47 states and 41 countries, officials said. North Dakota, Wyoming and Montana are the only states not represented in this year’s class.

Napper said as the quality of students increases, admissions tactics also need to become more aggressive, adding that blogs, travel and multicultural recruitment have all helped admissions, but that the ethnic diversity of admitted students still needs to increase.