Congrats to the newly admitted Oberlin Class of 2014! You kept me awake many long hours reading your applications, listening to supplemental music CDs, reading your poetry, viewing your art work, trying to understand your science research, etc, but it's all worth it to see this amazing class of students who have been admitted.
Isn't it funny how the tide has turned? You spent time a lot of time trying to convince colleges to accept you (through visits, preparing your applications, emails, etc), and now we're trying to convince you to enroll in our colleges. I'm betting you're a little more relaxed than, oh, a month or so ago? Did you think you'd make it to this point? You're holding the proverbial thick envelope from one of the nation's top colleges. You've come a long way!
Many have asked for Admissions stats, so thought I'd share the following with you:
•This year marks the eleventh year of continued increase in Arts & Sciences applications (over 6,000 applications were received)
•Just 33% were admitted
•Over 80% rank in the top 10% of their class with an average gpa of 3.78 (or 93 avg. on 100 scale)
•This class comes from all over the US and many foreign countries, including Bangladesh, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Greece, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Pakistan, Nepal, Nigeria, Singapore, and Zimbabwe (among others).
But applications are so much more interesting than just a bunch of numbers. I'd like to give you a sense of who your classmates may be. While being top students:
•You've done homestays all over the world, including one young woman who spent her junior year at a rural high school in China where no one spoke any English.
•One student was the youngest ever winner of Teen Jeopardy!
•At least two of my New York students are members of the 46 Club; they've climbed the 46 highest peaks in the Adirondack Mountains.
•One young man spoke successfully before City Council to keep his mobile home park from being demolished.
•One young woman is using her gap year to translate and travel a 13th century map of England.
•One young woman has done summer research to investigate how the geometry of the abdomen affects seat belt injuries in children.
•One young man has done two internships studying ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease).
•One young woman made a documentary on global warming in Denmark.
Who wouldn't want to be surrounded by these classmates?!
I hope to see you on campus for All Roads Lead to Oberlin, or in New York City on April 18 for our admitted students reception. (There will also be admitted student receptions in many other cities across the US.) These events are designed to provide you and your families with an opportunity to learn more about the things you really want to know about Oberlin. It's also a great way to meet other admitted students from your area as well as Oberlin alums, current students, and parents. You can also join Oberlin 2014 on Facebook, a great place to meet your future classmates and get questions answered by current students.
Many of you have already made the right choice and committed to Oberlin through ED. For the rest, as you weigh your college choices, we'd like to be of any assistance we can in helping you select the college that's best for you. Of course, I'm biased, but after reading your apps, I think that college is Oberlin.
