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By CHRISTINE VIDAL

Published: September 2, 2009

For the third consecutive year, UB has enrolled the most academically talented freshman class in its history, based on the average SAT score of the 3,079 new students who began classes this week.

The 2009 freshman class had an average SAT score of 1200, up a point from last year’s average score and up 8 points from 2007’s average score. Since 2004, the average SAT score of UB’s freshman class has increased 18 points.

“The university is delighted to have enrolled such a talented and accomplished freshman class,” said Michael E. Ryan, vice provost for undergraduate education. “Attracting students who are among the best and brightest in the country supports our aspirations to become one of the nation’s premier public research universities, and we look forward to the contributions of our new students.”

The UB Honors College also saw a rise in the profile of students accepted into the prestigious program for exceptional undergraduate students, with 304 freshmen from 18 states and five other countries accepted into the curriculum. With an average SAT score of 1377, up eight points over the 2008 freshman honor’s class, and an average high school GPA of 96.84, it represents the most academically talented group to enter the Honors College in the program’s history.

The number of international freshman attending UB increased as well, with a total 225 enrolling, representing some 40 countries, compared to 196 in the fall of 2008. In all, UB received 21,138 freshman applications, up from 19,785 in 2008, an increase of 6.3 percent.

Applications in general increased as well, with UB receiving 55,114 applications from prospective freshmen, transfer and graduate students, compared to 52,562 in 2008.

The number of transfer students applying to UB remained roughly the same, with 1,489 students entering UB this fall, compared to 1,511 in the fall of 2008.