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Westminster College Welcomes 420 New Students This Fall
NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. -- Breaking an application record for the fifth consecutive year, Westminster College will welcome 420 new students Friday for the start of its 152nd academic year. A total of 1,547 students, the most in Westminster history, applied for admission, said Doug Swartz, dean of admissions.The applications marked a 17% increase over last year's recordof 1,327 applications, Swartz said. The 388 new freshmen and 32 transfer students represent a 14% increase over last year's incoming class, he said. Traditionally, Westminster limits its incoming classes to 350 new students and 25 transfers, but a large graduating class allowed for a one-year expansion, he noted."Since we stress quality over quantity, it forced us to make some tough admissions decisions," Swartz noted. "We have implemented an early action program to help high achieving students secure a spot in future classes. We also have two special merit scholarships to allow Presbyterian pastors and Westminster alumni employed in the education field to nominate deserving students during the early action phase."Total enrollment, including Graduate school and the Lifelong Learning Program, likely will approach 1,700 in the fall, Swartz said. An additional 300 to 400 area residents will take non-credit courses at Westminster throughout the year, he added.For fall 2005, "We already have over 14,000 high school juniors inquiring about admission," Swartz stated. "All of the available space in our residence halls is filled, so we expect admission into Westminster to be even more competitive next year."The class of 2008 comes to Westminster with a solid academic background and an average high school grade point average of 3.42 in core classes, Swartz said. The Westminster freshmen have an average SAT score of 1,082 -- 80 points higher than the average score in Pennsylvania and 66 points higher than the national average, he reported."We strive to keep class sizes level each year, and becoming an impersonal mega-university is not part of the Westminster plan," added R. Thomas Williamson, president of the college, which was founded in 1852 and is related to the Presbyterian Church U.S.A.Visit Westminster College: www.westminster.edu"