September 2005

Freshman Class Sets New Standard

BY JULIA JACOBELLI

The George Washington University welcomed one of its most academically qualified classes ever, the class of 2009. The incoming students represent the University’s continued progress recruiting the brightest students. This year’s class was chosen from on of the deepest pool of applicants in University history, enabling GW to be more selective and lower its acceptance rate to 37 percent. Average SAT scores among the class of 2009 are 20 points higher than previous years. The class boasts students from 49 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and 43 foreign countries.

“This year’s entering freshman class again sets new standards for excellence, diversity, and selectivity,” says Robert Chernak, vice president for student and academic support services.

Thirty seven percent of this year’s students speak a foreign language fluently, and 20 percent spent extended amounts of time outside of the United States before applying to GW. Among the students with unique interests in the class is a three-time US women’s national junior curling champion, a three-time state track-cycling champion, a state Tai Kwon Do champion, and a certified stilt walker.

These students have never known a world without cell phones, the Internet, compact discs, cable TV, or Prozac. The year most of these students were born, 1987, marked Bill Gates’ first year as a billionaire, at age 32. Most notably in 1987, in the spirit of Glasnost, peace talks between President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev resulted in the signing of the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

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