Freshmen Are Getting Brighter

THE CLASS OF 1952, which now has the first semester of freshman year under its belt, is likely to set some academic marks for succeeding classes to shoot at if it continues its present pace. Midyear grades are not yet in, but it is already known that so few freshmen flunked English 1 that for the first time in the memory of the English Department a repeater section will not have to be scheduled for the second semester.

When it entered college last fall, the Class of 1952 gave promise of exceptional ability by bettering the aptitude-test results of 1951, which itself was well above average. The top half of 1951 had equalled the standing of the top 35% of prewar Dartmouth classes and the top 18% of a large national group used as a norm. In the same examination, the top half of 1952 equalled the top 42% of the Class of 1951 and the top quarter of prewar Dartmouth classes.

The Admissions Office has compiled figures on 1952 showing that the men in the class entered Dartmouth from 408 different schools—a new record. The largest group from any one school was 19. Fiftyfive percent of the freshmen were prepared entirely in public schools and 45% entered from private schools, although many of the latter attended public high schools earlier.

Demonstrating the all-around ability that goes with its superior scholastic ability, 1952 includes 271 men who played varsity football in secondary school, go of them as captains. With duplications caused by multiple-sport men, the class has 926 representatives of school varsity teams in 15 sports, including 133 captains. There are 142 freshmen who were class presidents, 45 student government presidents, 39 editors-in-chief of school papers and 34 yearbook editors, and hundred of musicians, debaters, actors and club members.

Ten per cent of the freshman class are veterans, compared with 11% last year. The average entering age was 18 years and 6 months, practically the prewar normal. The oldest matriculant was 30 and the youngest 16. In geographical distribution there was little variation from the normal pattern, with 43% from the Middle Atlantic states, 32% from New England, 17% from the Middle West, 4% from the Far West, 3% from the South, and 1% from foreign countries.