A&S Admit Rate Improves; One of Oberlin’s Strongest Classes Enrolls by Paul Marthers
		The class of 2005 represents the best-ever admissions year for Oberlin's College of Arts and Sciences. Six hundred twenty-four new freshmen were selected from an applicant pool of 4570--Oberlin's largest. We admitted 39 percent, a drop of nine percentage points from last year's admit rate, making Oberlin more selective than the University of Chicago, Grinnell, Macalester and Kenyon. Thirty-six percent of the admitted students accepted Oberlin’s offer (the yield), an increase of two points over last year's yield. Another tangible indication of Oberlin's popularity is the increase in students for whom Oberlin is a first choice. In 1999, 19 percent of matriculating students made Oberlin their first choice; in 2001 that number rose to 30 percent. We are excited by the diversity of the new College of Arts and Sciences students. Students of color comprise 21 percent of the new class, up from 20 percent last year and 16 percent two years ago. Nearly 10 percent of incoming students are African Americans, the largest percentage in over a decade; 5.1 percent are Latino; 5 percent are Asian American; and there are four Native American students. International students from 18 countries make up 6 percent of the class, up from 4 percent last year and 3 percent the previous year. Forty-five states are represented: the top 10 in descending order are New York, Ohio, California, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Maryland, Illinois, Texas, Michigan and New Jersey. Thirteen percent are the first generation in their families to attend college. Fifty-five of the new students are enrolled in the double-degree program. This record-setting number is well over last year's 36. The 57 transfer students in the class hail from institutions such as the University of Chicago, Barnard College, Beloit College, Johns Hopkins University, and NYU. The male/female ratio is 44/56, an improvement from 41/59 just two years ago. Sixty-one percent of the new freshmen were in the top 10 percent in high school, 54 were National Merit Scholars, and 26 were valedictorians. The median grade point average is 3.6 (on a 4-point scale) for the incoming freshmen and the SAT mean has improved 15 points to 1,336. The mean ACT is 29, up from 28 last year. Our new students are characterized by more than intellectual engagement in the classroom and laboratory. More than half participated in community service during high school. Over 60 percent performed in musical groups; nearly 100 captained a sport (most commonly soccer and track); at least a third edited a high school publication; more than a quarter engaged in drama productions; and about 15 percent held student government positions. When asked about their academic plans, nearly one-third of the incoming students said they expect to choose majors in the arts and/or humanities. Roughly a quarter are undecided, another quarter are drawn to math and science, while the remaining 20 percent favor the social sciences. We are excited to welcome such an outstanding group of new students to Oberlin this year. We know they will accomplish great things at Oberlin and beyond.
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