The Office of Admissions faced a quandary when selecting the Class of 2012. After admitting a surplus of 40 students to the class of 2011, Admissions was forced to micromanage yield at a time when applications were up 17 percent and the applicant pool was deeper than ever—“just outstanding”—according to Dean of Admission and Financial Aid Tom Parker. “There were a number of times in [admissions committee meetings] when I said, ‘We’re in Cambridge now,’” said Parker, referencing a bottomless applicant pool traditionally considered unique to Harvard.
Furthermore, in a year when Harvard and Princeton Universities abolished their early admissions programs, Admissions was forced to abandon its old yield-prediction models and accept conservatively, particularly since it could not afford to over-enroll another class.
In the end of this tumultuous admission cycle, of the over 7,700 students who applied to the College, 1,144 students were admitted, making the acceptance rate a record-low of less than 15 percent. Fourteen accepted students have chosen to defer enrollment for a year to pursue studies abroad or social service and will enroll at the College with the class of 2013.
The class of 2012’s 439 students include 219 men and 220 women, 49 African Americans, 46 Latinos, 47 Asian Americans, 27 students of mixed heritage and 38 international students, with an average critical reading score of 708 and average math score of 709 on the SAT, as well as an average ACT composite score of 31.
At the class of 2012’s welcome to the College during its first day of Orientation, Director of Admission Katie Fretwell addressed the class, assembled as a unit for the first time. “In recent years new classes have had unusually high concentrations of martial artists, identical twins, Katherines, environmentalists. But you, Class of ’12, are so fabulously well-rounded that I am obliged to report that you have no anomalies. That is your anomaly.”
Most surprising in the admission year was that, despite the unpredictability of this admission cycle and the fact that over 900 waitlist offers were made by top schools, the College lost “no more than 10 kids” to other schools’ waitlists, according to Parker.
Parker hypothesizes that social networking Web sites such as Facebook help matriculating students “develop class identities much earlier,” or even before they step foot on campus. “It’s not like the College is doing anything … [but matriculating students are now] committed and connected in ways they haven’t been in the past,” he said.
As a precautionary measure to control class size and in an effort to make a waitlist offer seem like more than just a “consolation prize” after years of not going to the waitlist, the College offered admission to 37 students on its waitlist. Of those students, 27 accepted the offer for the class of 2012 and two postponed their matriculation until next year. “If you don’t use [the waitlist] year after year, it starts to lose its credibility,” Parker explained. Drawing from the waitlist serves to mend any gaps in a class, and Parker particularly savors calling students accepted through the waitlist to personally deliver the good word and hear joyous reactions at the other end of the line. It’s a sweet spot at the end of a difficult season.
Another sweet spot came in the form of the new U.S. News and World Report college rankings, which put Amherst and Williams at the top of its list of the nation’s best liberal arts colleges. “Are we delighted? Of course we’re delighted,” Parker said. “But of course, you also have to take it with a grain of salt.”
Amherst returns to the top of the list after a four-year drought. Both Amherst and Williams topped the list 10 times each, tied for the most of any liberal arts college in the 25-year history of the rankings. “You don’t choose Amherst over Williams, Williams over Amherst, Amherst over Swarthmore, Williams over Swarthmore, Swarthmore over Amherst, Swarthmore over Williams because of U.S. News and World Report,” said Parker. He joked, “It’s one of those times when it’s better to begin with A than W,” but further noted the frivolity of the rankings.
Amherst officially dismisses the rankings as an institution and College President Tony Marx joined presidents of other top liberal arts colleges in a pact not to publish its U.S. News ranking in the promotional materials, in line with a belief that, while the rankings may provide statistics, they do not necessarily capture what happens in the classroom and which schools best fit different students.
Nonetheless, it wasn’t all good news on the rankings front for Amherst, especially as the College continues to emphasize socioeconomic diversity. The Princeton Review put Amherst at seven on its “Students Dissatisfied with Financial Aid List” in its 2009 edition of “The Best 368 Colleges.” It’s a remarkable ranking, especially given the fact Amherst was 20th on the “Students Happy with Financial Aid List” in 2008 and is on The Princeton Review’s list of the “Top 10 Best Value Private Colleges.”
Dean Parker considers The Princeton Review’s ranking—coming on the heels of the College’s decision to abolish loans for all students, its expansion of need-blind admissions to international students and Marx’s overarching emphasis on accessibility to higher education—“bizarre.” “It makes no sense,” he said. “We do not know what’s happened … This seems absurd to us… Turn around and look at U.S. News and World Report and see that we’re the best value,” in reference to Amherst’s top spot on the magazine’s “Best Values: Liberal Arts Colleges” list.
Parker has contacted The Princeton Review and reports that they have acknowledged their mistake and seem frustrated at an error that cannot be corrected in the printed book. While Parker noted that the mistake is “worrisome,” he explained, “I don’t think it will be [a roadblock to the College’s socioeconomic diversity efforts], to be honest, because there’s so much good news out there.” In its largely anecdotal rankings, The Princeton Review also left Amherst College out on its top academic lists that included some rival schools.
Nevertheless, the College can anticipate another record-breaking year in admissions, as the number of students graduating high school and looking toward college grows and interest in Amherst continues to proliferate, particularly abroad. The College’s decision to offer need-blind admission for international applicants will only continue to attract foreign students, whose awareness of Amherst has increased through accessibility of information through the Internet.
Parker was particularly struck by the informed questions he was asked by students on his visit to the United World College in Bosnia, whether about the open curriculum or the Five Colleges. “From a marketing point of view, is there going to be a point when paper is obsolete?” Dean Parker wonders. “There is no end to the information [prospective students] can acquire.” And he doesn’t see a problem with it. “The more you drill down into Amherst, the better it gets.”
The college-visiting season has brought record numbers of visitors to campus and the difference, said Parker, is “significant.” Furthermore, “This place is more visible and prominent than it’s ever been,” he explained, partially thanks to media coverage surrounding socioeconomic diversity efforts.
The College has already added an admissions officer and has “contingency plans” in place to add more if conditions necessitate to ensure that each application continues to receive the appropriate care.
While the admissions committee will continue to face difficult decisions, Parker explained as one cycle ends and another is just beginning, “As always, it’s a pretty humbling experience to look at kids and feel privileged to be in the place we are.”