They include two former presidents of their high schools’ Young Republicans clubs, two licensed pilots, a grand champion pig raiser, a Carnegie Hall performer, a national ballroom dancing champion and the manager of a rap artist.
They are adoptees, immigrants and orphans; Muslims, Quakers and atheists; vegans and vegetarians, among many, many other things.
Their names include Joy, Courage, Destiny and Liberty.
And they are all now, officially, Amherst College undergraduates.
Each year during Orientation, Director of Admission Katie Fretwell ’81 shares fascinating facts that she’s gleaned from students’ college applications and essays. Although Hurricane Irene cancelled her speech this year, her factual overview of this year’s new students follows below.
- Applications received for the Class of 2015: A record 8,460
- Students admitted: 1,126, or 13.3 percent of the applicant pool
- Applicants who enrolled: 461
- Transfer admission applications received: A record 502
- Transfer students admitted: 22, or 4.4 percent
- Transfers who enrolled: 13
- States represented by the incoming students: 41, plus the District of Columbia and 27 foreign countries
- Percentage of new undergraduates who are male: 53
- Percentage who identify themselves as students of color: 42
- Percentage who are not U.S. citizens: 8
- Percentage who are first-generation college students: 14
- Percentage receiving financial aid from Amherst: 54
- Age range of the new undergraduates: 16 to 25
- Most common names among the women: Sarah and Katherine (tie)
- Most common names among the men: Andrew and Michael (tie)
- Percentage of students who graduated in the top decile of their high school classes: 84
- Number of secondary schools represented by the incoming students: 367, including magnet and public schools, science and technology academies, foreign language institutes, United World Colleges, arts institutes, virtual high schools, experimental schools, community colleges, prep schools and charter schools. Some students have been homeschooled.
- Students who were admitted earlier and then deferred college until now to embark various adventures: 23 undergraduates, who, during that time, made 16 countries on four continents, a Burmese refugee camp, an organic farm, an orphanage, a bakery, a hockey rink, the U.S. Senate and the military their own temporary classrooms.