This semester's monthly faculty meeting on Dec. 8 unveiled the admissions report for the current first-year class. According to the report, not only is the University matriculating more students, but the students enrolling here are academically accomplished as well.

Compared to the Class of 2012, the Class of 2015 has higher GPAs, SAT scores and class rankings. The report claims that by accepting and matriculating more students, Admissions' goal of accepting students of a higher caliber is met.

While we are pleased to see the University maintain and even increase its academic caliber by accepting a talented student body, we believe that a growing class size is still problematic. As we reported earlier this semester, the Class of 2015 has approximately 864 students who were regularly admitted and 108 midyears, bringing the class total to 972 students.

These students were selected from 8,900 applicants, the largest pool in the University's history.

This semester, their presence has been noticeable, as there are more forced triples in first-year residences and longer lines in the dining halls.

We do not think that while the academic standards of the applicants increase, we do not think that the standard of living on campus should decrease. As the student body becomes larger, so do class sizes, which makes it more difficult to engage and make connections with our professors.

This, in turn, will affect the very character of Brandeis, a small school that prides itself on a close, interactive community.

Though we understand the administration is working toward and enlarging the student body, we urge them to consider the effect this will have on the community and campus.

Given that the administration is currently in the process of creating the strategic plan, this is the appropriate time to reevaluate this goal and realistically reflect on whether more students will bring positive change.

We appreciate the report's findings, but encourage the University committee, as they accept students who will be members of the Class of 2016, to keep in mind the negative effects a larger class size has on our campus. Even though higher statistics reflect well on us, it is important to maintain our character as a university as we consider our goals moving forward.