The University accepted 2,250 applicants for the Class of 2020 through regular decision Thursday, said Dean of Admission Jim Miller ’73.
This year’s application cycle saw a regular decision rate of about 7 percent and an overall admission rate of about 9 percent, Miller said. The overall admission rate for last year’s cycle was a record-breaking 8.5 percent.
The newly admitted students will join the 669 students admitted through early decision in December. The admitted students were selected from a record-high pool of 32,380 students who applied either early decision or regular decision.
Even with the growing number of applicants, the demographics of the pool have stayed “pretty consistent,” Miller said.
The University admitted about 7 percent of the 1,905 deferred students from the early decision pool and waitlisted about 1,000 additional students. Students were admitted from all 50 states and 83 nations, Miller said.
But the pool of both applying and admitted students is becoming more diverse. A record-high 47 percent of students in the admitted class identify as students of color, Miller said. Sixty-one percent of admitted students intend to apply for financial aid this year.
Multiple factors keep increasing the number of applicants to the University, but “the continuing appeal of Brown,” is one of the biggest reasons more people apply each year, Miller said. The University’s “reputation continues to grow nationally and internationally,” he added.
The University’s financial aid programs are also “very attractive” and have “improved over the years,” Miller said.
The high number of applicants also extends internationally, with a record-high 5,432 students applying from outside of the United States.
The “growing middle class” in many parts of the world allows more people to apply to universities, and the top American universities are the “gold standard” of education, Miller said.
Many admitted students were excited after receiving their acceptance letters.
“It feels awesome,” said Sarah Pugliese of North Smithfield, Rhode Island. “It’s been my number one school for as long as I can remember,” she added.
Brown was appealing because of its open curriculum, “intellectual but not intense” student body and great neuroscience program, said Pugliese, who applied to be a neuroscience and applied math concentrator.
A Day on College Hill, a program for admitted students, will start April 19.
