Vanderbilt has just admitted one of the most competitive early decision classes in the school's history.

Vanderbilt received 19,300 student applications for only 1,585 spots in the class of 2013. Of the total number of applicants, 1,838 of them applied early decision, a 24 percent increase from last year. About one-third of the Class of 2013 has already been admitted through the early decision process, according to Associate Provost for Enrollment and Dean of Admissions Douglas Christiansen.

Emily Hobbs from Georgia, one of the newly accepted high school seniors, said Vanderbilt's national reputation appealed to her.

"I was drawn to Vanderbilt because of its dedication to academics ... and its reputation in the professional world. I know a degree from Vanderbilt will be a real asset to me in my future career search," Hobbs said.

Christiansen said this pool of applicants represents one of the most ambitious and diverse collections of students the university has seen yet.

According to Christiansen, the average student admitted early decision ranked in the top 5.5 percent of their high school class, which is up from the average of top 6.4 percent for last year's class. In addition to the strong academic qualities of applicants, Christiansen also said this is one of the most ethnically diverse groups of applicants Vanderbilt has seen in recent years.

"We are seeing huge increases in the quality, diversity, geographic diversity, ethnic diversity (of applicants). ... If we look at total ethnic diversity for early decision admits, we are up 61 percent - or 41 students - from last year," he said.

While there could be several reasons for the increase in the number of applications, Christiansen said a big reason for the increase is the experience Vanderbilt has to offer its students and the reputation of Vanderbilt's faculty.

"Cleary one of the main reasons in my mind why more students are applying is because of the experience here at Vanderbilt. It's hard to market and recruit if you don't have a good educational product," Christiansen said. "With the name recognition and what a degree from Vanderbilt means, especially in this economy, it is going to be very beneficial ... to list graduation from such a quality school."

Jarrett Wadler, a new admit from Houston, Texas, said Vanderbilt appealed to him on a number of levels.

"I decided to apply to Vanderbilt because I wanted to go to a school in the South with top academics and still a great social scene," Wadler said.

Some early decision applicants, like high school senior Justin Langford from Indiana, applied early simply because they knew Vanderbilt was where they wanted to attend college and couldn't wait until April to find out if they had been accepted.

"I decided to apply early because it was my top choice. ... I was more than anxious to hear back the results of admissions. I could not have waited till the regular deadline and kept my sanity," Langford said.