Virginia Tech prepares to welcome Class of 2011; university exceeds enrollment goal

Virginia Tech has received deposits from 5,215 freshman students for the Fall 2007 semester, slightly more than the enrollment target goal of 5,000 set for the Class of 2011.

The freshman class comes from an applicant pool of 19,579--the largest application pool in the history of Virginia Tech.

Virginia Tech did not draw from its wait list of 1,441 applicants.

Last year, 5,185 freshman deposits were received at this time last year. As it was this year, the freshman enrollment target was 5,000. After the first week of classes, the freshman class stood at 5,084.

“We are delighted to welcome another highly qualified group of students to Virginia Tech,” said Norrine Bailey Spencer, associate provost and director of undergraduate admissions. “Despite the tragic events of last month, these students understand that all the things that make this university great are still true. The credentials of our entering students and their expressed desire to join the Hokie family will enhance our strong community of high-achieving students.”

Virginia Tech freshmen who accepted the offer of admission earned an average high school grade point average of 3.77 (with a middle 50 percent of 3.54-4.00), up from 3.74 last year.

The average combined math and critical reading SAT score was 1205, up from last year’s 1201. Virginia Tech considers the math and critical reading scores for admission, though the writing score may be used for placement if a student is admitted.

Average grades and scores for students who were offered admission were: 3.82 grade point average (middle 50 percent 3.57-4.04) and a combined critical reading and math SAT score of 1229 (middle 50 percent of 1130-1310).

The Class of 2011 is 44.6 percent female and 55.4 percent male, nearly identical to last year. Ethnicity reported is 75.3 percent Caucasian, 8.7 percent Asian (up from 8.0 percent last year), 3.5 percent Black, 3.2 percent Hispanic, less than 1 percent Native American, and 8.7 percent indicated none of the above. While the number of Black students has increased in quantity, the percentage dropped slightly from the previous year’s 3.7 due to the higher number of incoming freshmen. The Hispanic student population is up from 2.9 percent in 2006 and 2.8 percent in 2005.