The school’s acceptance rate hit an all-time low this year, according to data from the Admission Office. The overall admit rate was 24% in 2023, 9% lower than last year’s admit rate of 33%, not including students admitted from the waitlist.

This year, the school received a record 1,394 applications , the highest number to date. Admission decisions were released March 10, offering 226 spots to students entering seventh grade, compared to 274 offered in 2022. 98 spots were offered to incoming ninth graders, 27 less than the 125 spots offered in 2022.

In an email, President Rick Commons said over-enrollment last year led to the lower acceptance rate this year.

“It was an extremely competitive year, with an increase in applications of over 10% and nearly a 20% decrease in the number of offers made, because historically high yields last year had us beginning the year at a higher enrollment than we had planned,” Commons said.

Commons said no applicants were admitted from the waitlist last year.

“We came in above our targets, and we didn’t use the waiting list at all last year,” Commons said. “That’s the first time in my experience that we haven’t used the waiting list at all.

With an increased number of applications, Commons said the admission office had to be more selective than usual.

“We were very conservative because we need to get our enrollment numbers back under control so that classes aren’t overfilled, parking lots aren’t overfilled and cafeteria lines aren’t too long,” Commons said. “We’ve done that, but it was tough. We had to say no to a lot of talented kids who would do well here.”