The University expects this year's freshman class size to be right on target, admissions officials said.
As of Monday, the list of candidates who have agreed to attend Carolina included 3,267 names, said Associate Director of Undergraduate Admissions Anthony Strickland. But as is the case every year, some of those students won't enroll, he said, and the incoming freshman class likely will settle between 3,200 and 3,250.
Total enrollment is expected to be about 24,400, down from 24,463 last year, he said.
Last year's near-record freshman class of 3,559 forced the University to add class sections and temporarily overload residence halls. Carolina ranks second in the country behind Harvard for percentage of students who attend the school after being accepted.
To avoid going over the enrollment targets, the University admitted fewer students and put more applicants on the waiting list.
The Class of 1999, the last graduating class of the century, is shaping up to be both academically gifted and socially involved, Strickland said. SAT scores are higher, with the average rising about 12 points to an estimated 1140, while GPAs are up slightly.
"They're going to be very well-qualified academically," Strickland said. "They will have been involved, a couple thousand will have athletic letters, and just over 10 percent will have held presidencies of student bodies. ... So in addition to being involved, they've been leaders."
Other facts about the Class of 1999 as of last Friday:
*Black freshmen total 409, down from last year's second highest enrollment of 451.
*Women make up 61.5 percent, up from last year's 60 percent total.
*Seventy-nine percent of new freshmen were in the top 10 percent of their high school class;
*SAT scores average 1,140, 12 points higher than last year and 90 points higher than in 1984;
*More than 16,000 people applied for about 3,250 spaces;
*Top home counties are Wake, Mecklenburg and Guilford, in that order;
*Top home states (other than North Carolina) are Virginia, Florida, New York and Maryland.
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