While the official numbers won’t be in until September, the GPAs, SAT scores and ACT scores of N.C. State’s incoming freshman class are, on average, higher than those of previous classes.

Although Undergraduate Admissions saw a record number of applications for the 2013-2014 school year, the University is accepting fewer total students than in years past. 

“The competition was even tougher for this year’s incoming class than last year’s incoming class, which was exceptional,” said Thomas Griffin, N.C. State’s director of undergraduate admissions.

The tightened competition is due to both to a decrease in the number of students being admitted per class and an increase in the number of students that have been applied.

“Last year was a record number of applications, over 20,000 for the first time, and this year we’ve exceeded that number of applications,” Griffin said. “We’re over 21,000, almost to 22,000.”

N.C. State Undergraduate Admissions’ class size goal for the past two years was 4,200 freshmen per year. That’s a decrease of about 300 students as compared to the senior and junior classes that preceded them.

These factors, coupled with budget pressures, have forced N.C. State to become more selective when it comes to incoming freshmen. Last year N.C. State accepted just under 50 percent of the applicants, while this year they only accepted about 46 percent. 

“It’s a big change,” Griffin said. “With that many more applications, and then holding the number of acceptances fairly level because we want the same size class to enroll, it just means it’s been that much tougher.”

That, Griffin said, wasn’t a bad thing in terms of N.C. State’s academic reputation. As an example, he pointed to the College of Engineering. The college, which was already ranked highly among public universities’ engineering programs nationally, is ranked even higher now thanks to tougher admission standards. 

“The College of Engineering is looking at a class that is extremely well qualified,” Griffin said. “Their average SAT score, two-part, is likely to break 1,300 this year.”

Not only are the incoming freshmen’s test scores generally higher, more of them are coming to N.C. State with AP or dual-enrollment credits. Last year 2,888 students enrolled at N.C. State with AP credits and scored an average 4.4 on their AP exams, while so far this year 3,050 students have submitted AP exams and the average of their exam scores has been 4.68.

While Griffin said the academic achievements of the class of 2017 make it stand out, it’s also notable for the demographic shifts it represents.

International applications jumped significantly last year, increasing 46 percent—nearly 400 students—thanks to increased international recruiting efforts. However, this year the number of international students that applied remained fairly flat.

Even so, the international students accepted this year are far more diverse. Last year international students were accepted from 23 countries while this year that count increased to 32.

“You don’t want all of your international students to come from one particular country, so one of the things we have been looking at is how to attract students from a variety of countries,” Griffin said.

With the matriculation of the class of 2017, there will be also be a slight increase in the percentage of female students and a slight decrease in the percentage of non-Caucasian students, though the class isn’t radically different from the classes admitted over the last few years, demographically speaking.

Griffin said he believes the slight decrease in minority students this year is a minor statistical aberration; over the next 10 years, he said, the University expects the number of both minority and female students attending N.C. State to grow significantly.

“We have seen changes in the demographic makeup,” Griffin said. “They are small increases, but certainly increases over the long run.”

“The big trend for us over the last few years has been the increasing academic qualities of our incoming class,” Griffin said. “We’re looking for the very best students and the very best fit for our university.”