Applicants are seeking a Virginia Tech undergraduate education in record high numbers. This year, the Virginia Tech Office of Undergraduate Admissions has received 18,969 freshman applications, a 7.5 percent increase over last year and slightly more than the previous record of 18,838 set in 2001.

The application deadline for Fall 2006 enrollment was Jan. 15, 2006. Early decision deadline was Nov. 1, 2005.

“More and more high school students recognize the value of Virginia Tech’s high-quality academic programs and our innovative learning opportunities both in and out of the classroom,” said Norrine Bailey Spencer, associate provost and director of undergraduate admissions. “Indications of a record high applicant pool were seen this fall when we saw a 7.8 percent increase in early decision acceptances over last year. This fall, 24 percent of our freshman class will have declared Virginia Tech as their first choice.”

“We are also very pleased to see an increase in the diversity of the pool with greater numbers of applications from prospective Black and Hispanic students,” said Spencer. “This year, Virginia Tech received 1,252 applications from African American students and 675 applications from Hispanic students, compared to 1,037 and 639 last year.”

Determining the race of applicants is increasingly becoming more difficult, noted Spencer. Reflective of a national trend, more and more perspective students are identifying their race as “other” on their college application. This year, for example, 20.9 percent of the student applying to Virginia Tech identified their race as “other,” compared to 4.3 percent five years ago.

In addition to greater numbers, the academic credentials of Virginia Tech’s freshman applicants continue to improve. The average applicant grade point average has increased slightly this year compared to past year, and average SAT scores remain competitive. Currently, Virginia Tech does not use the new SAT writing score in admissions decisions. The university continues to evaluate its use as more data is available on student performance on the new portion of the test.

Freshman applicants will be notified of their admissions decisions on April 1. Virginia Tech expects to enroll a freshman class of 5,000 students.

Information about admission to Virginia Tech is available here.

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