But Mathis’ high-achieving mentality isn’t shared by all MSU students.

“In some classes that I’m in, I’m like, ‘Wow, how did these kids get in here?’” Mathis said.

The number of applications sent to MSU has increased by 18.3 percent since 1998, but the percentage of admitted students decreased by about 7.9 percent during the same period of time, according to data from the Office of Admissions and the Office of Planning and Budgets.

However, MSU’s percentage of admitted students has remained relatively steady throughout the past 10 years, said Jim Cotter, MSU’s director of admissions.

“Michigan State University’s academic profile is improving, but it’s improving on the margins,” Cotter said. “Is it a more selective institution than it was 30 years ago? I think it’s a very different review process than it was 30 years ago.”

The percentage of accepted first-time students dropped by more than 14 percent since 2004, but freshman class size and the percentage of students who will decide to come to campus will affect final admittance percentages, Cotter said.

In the past 10 years, the number of students who accepted a spot at MSU fluctuated between a high of 43.5 percent in 2005 to a low of 38.7 percent in 2003.

MSU takes a holistic approach when deciding who will get an acceptance letter, Cotter said. Past transcripts and standardized test scores have a large impact on the final decision, but aren’t the only factors to come into play.

“A component that we take into consideration is what the student will bring to campus,” Cotter said. “How do they enrich our university based on their experiences?”

A new admissions requirement added in 2004 could explain a drop of more than 3,000 applicants that year compared with the 24,973 received in 2003, Cotter said.

“In 2004, we implemented that a personal statement was required,” Cotter said. “We assumed, to some degree, that probably discouraged some fringe applicants, those students who were not all that sure about their interest in Michigan State.”

Almost a quarter of this year’s freshman class left high school as an ‘A’ student, Cotter said.

“It’s a quality class,” he said. “I don’t know I’d say we’re more selective. We’re more comprehensive in our review.”

The Office of Admissions received almost 19,000 applicants for the fall 2009 semester as of Tuesday — almost identical to last year’s numbers in early December, Cotter said.

Although Stephen Harsh’s classroom enrollment decreased about 15 percent this semester, the agricultural economics professor said he hasn’t noticed a drastic difference in his students’ background skills.

“I actually haven’t seen much of a change at all in terms of students coming through my classroom,” Harsh said.