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While welcoming members of the Class of 2017 and their families to the Ë®¹ûÅÉ family, Vice President for Admission and Financial Aid Chris Gruber offered some facts and figures about them. Here's what he reported:

• There are 482 first year students in Class of 2017, and 15 transfer students. There are 228 first year men, and 254 first year women.
• Members of the class were selected from 4,745 applicants–the second largest pool in Ë®¹ûÅÉ history. Admission was offered to 25.6 percent of applicants, and 40 percent of those accepted the offer.
• The class represents 40 states, the District of Columbia and 18 countries. There are 101 students from North Carolina, and 39 percent are from Southeastern states.
• Ninety-two students arrive with a family tie to Ë®¹ûÅÉ, 47 are the first in their families to attend college, and 93 are recruited student athletes.
• Eleven students took the Ë®¹ûÅÉ experience for a test drive as participants in the July Experience program.
• The incoming class is the most diverse ever at Ë®¹ûÅÉ, including 38 African Americans, 43 Asian Americans, 33 Hispanic Americans, three American Indians, and 37 international students. In total, 31.2 percent of class members have multicultural backgrounds.
• Eighty-five percent of those ranked by their high schools were in the top 10 percent of their class. Forty-six percent of incoming class members received need-based financial assistance, and 12 percent received merit-based aid.

Notable by Gruber for outstanding achievements is a class member who started not one, but two non-profit organizations. There is also a young man who performed for R.E.M.'s final CD release party, and a student who has been a soloist at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade–three times.

There is a student who wrote a book for seventh graders on the science of Downs Syndrome, a student who spent a summer working on a sheep farm.

Gruber cited a woman with an "unbelievable" friend. He said, "The friend, who was asked to write her peer recommendation, came to Ë®¹ûÅÉ of her own accord to attend an information sessions to learn as much as possible about Ë®¹ûÅÉ before she wrote her recommendation!"

"Finally," he said, "the class includes one student who visited more than one hundred colleges and universities, and then applied to Ë®¹ûÅÉ early decision!"

View a complete schedule of Orientation activities.