As Elon moves farther into it NewCentury plan, it has just found that last piece of the puzzle.

The class of 2011 is one of the best in Elon’s history and it is this class that has continued Elon’s climb into prominence and improved its status as one of the top colleges in the South.

Elon recent earned it’s highest ranking ever in the U.S. News & World Report and was cited as one of the best master’s-level Southern universities. It was classified into in multiple categories as being among the cream of the crop. Those include: Internships, first-year experiences, undergraduate research and creative projects, learning communities, study abroad, service learning, senior capstone. It is Elon’s recent success that has promoted the ever-improving freshman class.

“It’s indicative of the good things that are happening here,” said Greg Zaiser Dean of Admissions. “All the good things that are happening here are being recognized. That’s being cited in a lot of the national news. The more good things happen and the more people come aware of it, the more people are interested in being a part of Elon.”

Because of Elon’s continued growth the caliber of students has grown, while academically mirrors last year’s SAT scores and class GPAs, this class is slightly bigger.

“If you have a larger applicant pool you can be more selective in identifying candidates for admissions,” Zaiser said.

The increased applicant pool reached a peak this past year as 9,379 students applied and 3,869 students were accepted. The 41 percent admission rate is then trimmed down to the 1,285 that plan to attend.

“We saw a huge jump (in applicants) several years ago, we are starting to see a leveling off,” Zaiser said.

But even though so many more students are applying, roughly the same number of students are being admitted, making it that much harder to get into Elon.

“The caliber of the student continues to be strong,” Zaiser said. “It is our strongest class but it’s not dramatically from our sophomore class... Students who challenge themselves and are doing well are at Elon."

Managing Editor: Justin Hite - 08/24/07