Humanities admissions rise

The Johns Hopkins Office of Admissions admitted 3,129 students out of a total number of 8,963 applicants this year, aiming for an optimum class size of 1,045 students. With an admit rate of 35 percent, the accepted students have a 53 to 47 male to female ratio and an average combined SAT score of 1430, down 10 points from the 1440 average last year.

Director of Admissions John Latting said that the accepted students showed more diversity than other years both from an ethnic and an academic standpoint.

"There was a 53 percent increase in underrepresented minorities compared to last year, along with an increase in students initially declaring humanities majors," Latting said. "There was progress in our goals since it was a disappointment last year that we did not attract as many [underrepresented minorities]."

A possible reason for the increase in humanities majors may be the higher percentage of women. Sixteen percent of accepted students initially declared concentrations in the humanities as their possible majors, an increase of two percent from last year. Conversely, 29 percent of students initially declared areas in the natural sciences as their majors, a decrease of two percent compared to last year.

"Students in the ages of 15, 16, 17 or 18 do not know of Johns Hopkins for the humanities to the same extent of the natural sciences or biomedical engineering," Senior Associate Director Sherryl Fletcher said.

Latting added that the Office of Admissions would like to continue progress in the increased percentages of humanities majors by finding more students interested in humanities and by promoting more on-campus programs to benefit humanities students.

In addition, the 1,005 optimum enrollment rate went up to a projected class of 1,045 students, a one percent increase from the previous year. According to Latting, the deans of JHU had carefully calculated the new student enrollment rate - a decision which impacted admissions for the incoming class.

"We accepted more students during the early decision process - a difference of 60 students," Latting said. "If the target number had remained the same, there would have been around 200 fewer regular decision admits, but the target number changed. As a result, we did not see much of an increase of regular decision admits compared to previous years."

Latting explained that the Office of Admissions revised the admissions process and added several new ways when looking at applicants. Along with looking at academic achievement such as the traditional GPA and test scores, the Office of Admissions placed more emphasis on the academic, extracurricular and personal qualities of the applicant in order to grasp a better sense of the applicant's personality and interests.

"Through recommendations, letters and essays, we tried to see how engaged and interested the student was in his studies as well as how supportive he was for the school and community," Latting said. "Students were rated in these aspects and then were analyzed as to how the student would contribute to Hopkins' community."

Fletcher and Latting agreed that refining criteria to a higher level was not only important, but it also was a more accurate predictor of success at Hopkins after looking at the whole applicant instead of strictly the rankings and the test scores the student earns.

"Ultimately, it comes down to professional judgment," Latting said. "We wanted to ensure all the factors together and take those into account. Instead of asking who can suck up the most [knowledge,] we asked... who can contribute the most?"

The Office of Admissions hopes to improve the use of technology due to the rapid growth of online applicants. Latting plans to change the business structure of admissions by improving how information is processed.

"A lot of data entry is done manually, making it difficult for staff members. We hope to have a more efficient and quicker way of processing information," Latting said. "These changes will hopefully impact interaction with high school students and faculty."

Moreover, both Fletcher and Latting hope to instigate more interest from overseas and non-US applicants by generating more financial aid for these students.

By bringing about these changes, "we're thinking of the success and future of the students," Latting said. "There's a sense of excitement to the students we've admitted, and we have high hopes for the incoming class.