by Debra Chermonte
The College of Arts and Sciences has exceeded its enrollment target for new students--first year and transfers. With a target of 685, we had received 695 enrollment deposits on Monday. We are shy of our target only for double-degree students; we are looking for 40 and so far have received 33 deposits from that group. We have reason to be optimistic about the final enrollment outcome, although the number of entering students, after growing a little more, will diminish slightly during the summer months. Some enrolled students now on waiting lists elsewhere will be admitted and decide to go to another college; others may defer their enrollment for up to a year. The admissions staff plans to maintain contact with new students over the summer to help counteract this "summer melt."
This year we received 3,912 applications to the College of Arts and Sciences--2 percent more than last year's 3,836. We admitted 71 percent of those who applied, the same rate as last year. We have not admitted applicants who are on our waiting list this year. The yield (the percentage of those who accept our admission offer) is the same as it was last year at this time; we will not know the final yield until students arrive on campus in the fall. We do know, however, that 26 children of alumni have enrolled in next year's class, giving us a 37.1 percent yield in that group--an improvement over this time last year.
The mean SAT (scholastic assessment tests) scores of the incoming students are about the same as those of the enrolling class a year ago and higher than those of two years ago. Other academic indicators--grade-point averages and class ranks--are also virtually as they were at this time last year. A large number of the incoming students have demonstrated commitment to community service, and many have demonstrated leadership as literary-magazine editors, newspaper editors, or ethnic-club coordinators.
While the number of students of color in the applications pool was down this year, the number of enrollments has significantly increased. Students of color number 147 among first-year college students--22.9 percent of the class of 1999. Forty-eight of them are African American, 29 are Latino, and 70 are Asian. The comparable figures on the same date in 1994 were 42, 27, and 50. At this time two years ago we had only 28 African Americans, and it now seems that that low number was an aberration. At this time 40 percent of the entering class are men, 60 percent women--the same ratio as last year.
As usual, New York is sending more new students than any other state; Ohio, Massachusetts, and California are now tied for second place. The state of Washington is sending us 27 new students, more than double last year's number. We attribute that success partly to a first-time joint presentation made by Oberlin, Pomona, and Swarthmore colleges in Washington and partly to good coordination among alumni recruiters.
We had record attendance for the two sessions this spring of our admitted-student campus program, All Roads Lead to Oberlin: 462 prospective students and 380 family members. Faculty, current students, and alumni have continued their active role in the admissions process. Faculty members continue to greet families in the admissions office, often answering parents' questions during the prospective student's interview.
Recruitment is under way for the fall of 1996. Members of the admissions staff are already traveling to various parts of the country. High-school juniors and their parents are beginning to visit campus; many families will start their college search in the summer months.
Debra Chermonte is director of college admissions.