May 10, 2008
2007-2008 admissions cycle breaks records
Taking a quick break from the excitement over Sabrina’s liberation from the Bunker, I wanted to post a quick item on this year’s record breaking admissions cycle.
The alternative title to this post could be “Why Brian, Parker and Dave are lucky to have been born in the ’70s” since it is clear we would have faced an even tougher challenge getting into Amherst had we been competing with the ever improving quality of recent applicant pools.
Katie Guthrie ‘11 of the Amherst Student filed a report that covered the key angles.
The headline statistics? The overall acceptance rate for the class of 2012 is a paltry 14.2%, while the regular decision acceptance rate was even lower: 12.5%. The average SAT is now over 1440. This year’s incoming class also contains more students of color and more international students.
While the growing population of 18yr old college applicants is certainly a factor in the increase in applications (many colleges are enjoying record applications), certainly credit must be given to the initiatives at the College and the leading position it has taken to regarding access to a top-quality college education.
The article also notes some other important factors. Namely, the College deliberately cut back on the number of students accepted this year, after last year’s surprisingly high yield.
It will be interesting to see how the pool fluctuates during the summer. College officials have anticipated that the lack early decision application options at Harvard and Princeton mean that the College has likely accepted students who will also be admitted to those institutions. That’s encouraging news for anxious waitlist members. Congratulations to all the new members of the Class of 2012!
Dave Nardolillo '98 | May 10, 2008 02:21 PM | Administration | Alumni | History
Dave Rogers | May 12, 2008 03:56 PM:
"It will be interesting to see how the pool fluctuates during the summer. College officials have anticipated that the lack [of] early decision application options at Harvard and Princeton mean that the College has likely accepted students who will also be admitted to those institutions. That’s encouraging news for anxious waitlist members."
Do people turn down Amherst to go to Harvard or Princeton?
Dave Nardolillo '98 | May 21, 2008 03:53 PM:
They do, and from my understanding, it is by an overwhelming percentage.
The admissions office at Williams is on record commenting that it is considered a good year if 15% of the applicants admitted to both Williams and any one of Harvard Princeton and Yale choose Williams. Considering the roughly 50/50 split between Amherst and Williams cross-admits, I think it is safe to assume that Amherst loses out on those admitted to Harvard Princeton and Yale to a similar degreee.
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