Education

The average incoming freshman at the University of Washington in fall 2011 had a 3.75 grade-point average, scored a 633 (out of 800) on the math portion of the SAT, and made a 579 on the reading portion of the SAT.

The profile of the typical freshman student emerges from the UW's annual profile of freshman and transfer statistics for the autumn 2011 quarter.

The most popular major requested was business administration, followed by biology and psychology. And although the largest number of applicants was from Washington (10,637) and the second-largest from California (4,642), the third runner-up was China, with 3,290 applicants.

That's more applicants from China than the rest of the top 10 states combined.

The UW's increase in the number of out-of-state freshmen and big jump in international students has been in the news before.

Here are other interesting tidbits gleaned from the report:

• The average high school grade-point average has inched up over the years — from 3.69 in 2005 to 3.75 last year. During the same time period, the combined math and reading SAT score has gone from 1198 to 1212.

• It's getting harder to transfer into the UW from a two-year school than it used to be. In 2006, 66 percent of two-year transfer students who applied were admitted; in 2011, the number was 51 percent.

• There were 1,636 applicants with a perfect 4.0 grade-point average, and 11 with a perfect 2400 score on the SAT. The "admit rate" — the percentage of applicants who were admitted — was 58 percent.

• Of the 5,793 students in the freshman class, about 16 percent were children of alumni. Nearly 30 percent were the first generation in their family to go to college.

• The number of applicants has grown by 65 percent since 2005. In six years, the percentage of applicants who ended up gaining admission and later joining the freshman class has dropped — from nearly 31 percent, in 2005, to 24 percent last year.

• The number of African-American students applying for admission has nearly doubled since 2005, but a smaller percentage of those students are accepted and enter as freshmen. In 2005, nearly 49 percent of black applicants were admitted; in 2011, that number was 44 percent. There were 188 black students who enrolled in 2011.

• That trend was also true for Hispanics. Applications more than doubled between 2005 and 2011. In 2005, more than 62 percent of Hispanic applicants were admitted. Last year, that number was 53 percent. There were 381 Hispanic students who enrolled.

Last year, concerned that the number of in-state students being admitted to the UW was shrinking, the Washington Legislature told the school to admit 4,000 Washington students to the fall 2012 freshman class — an increase of more than 150 over last year. Will that make it easier for local students to gain admission? University officials say yes.

The application deadline for incoming freshmen for autumn 2012 was Dec. 1. Acceptance letters go out starting March 15.

Katherine Long: 206-464-2219 or klong@seattletimes.com. On Twitter @katherinelong.