Hopkins admitted a record-low 15.31 percent of 19,166 regular decision applicants to the Class of 2017 last week.
The 2,943 high school seniors admitted regular decision join the 530 students admitted under the early decision program last December, making for an overall admitted class of 3,464.
Taken together, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions received a record-breaking 20,613 applications for the Class of 2017. The admitted class is 50 percent female, 50 percent male and 25 percent underrepresented minorities.
“We are very excited for this incoming class. They represent some of the brightest and most talented students in our applicant pool and we look forward to the ways that they will contribute to student life and the academic landscape at Johns Hopkins,” Undergraduate Admissions Ellen Kim wrote in an email to The News-Letter.
Decision notifications were released to regular decision applicants online around 5 p.m. EST on Thursday. The official admissions packets were shipped out via FedEx earlier that afternoon.
The students admitted regular decision this year represent all 50 states and 51 different countries around the world. The average combined SAT Critical Reading and Mathematics score among the regular decision admits was 1472.
The University has a need-blind admissions policy for U.S. citizens and permanent residents.
“[Students from the U.S.] were evaluated without regard to their ability to pay tuition,” Kim wrote.
Of those admitted, 38 percent have been offered need-based grant funding from the University, exactly the same percentage as last year.
Officials hope to enroll 1,300 students for the freshman class entering in the fall of 2013, up from last year’s target of 1,275. The University significantly overenrolled last year when 1,330 students matriculated.
At least a few admitted high school seniors were buoyed by the good news. Rebecca Brown, a senior at Taylor Allderdice High School in Pittsburgh, was overjoyed.
“It feels awesome to be admitted. Everyone I know who goes to Hopkins is really nice, which is what made me apply, and having the chance to be a part of that community now is really cool,” she wrote in an email to The News-Letter.
Her sense of relief was a result of no longer having to wait to hear back from elite universities.
“I stressed all year over this process. The only thing I was certain I really wanted was smart peers, so I ended up applying to a bunch of mostly competitive schools, which added another level of anxiety to the process. I’m glad I did it, though, because now I have some good options like Hopkins,” Brown wrote.
Jake Drobner, a senior at Dwight-Englewood School in Englewood, N.J. expressed a mixture of relief and disbelief at the near-conclusion of his college search.
“Finishing the college admissions process is a strange feeling because that process has been a huge part of my life for so many years. I’m almost not sure what to do with myself except start preparing for the medical school admissions process (I’m only kidding — I’m ready to enjoy myself for a few years before I worry about that),” he wrote in an email to The News-Letter.
Now comes the time when high school students have to make their own decisions.
“To weigh my options I will definitely visit the top schools I got into, just to make sure I am making the right decision. I have a gut instinct of where I will go, but I don’t want to decide too quickly and potentially make the wrong choice,” Brown wrote.
Drobner was less sure about where he would ultimately choose to matriculate.
“As of now, I’m in between Cornell University, the University of Chicago and Hopkins. I’m definitely going to visit, and probably overnight, [at] all three of these schools. The most important thing for me is to make sure that I feel comfortable around the student body, because I know that all three schools have the academic opportunities and rigor that I want. I also want to get in touch with students from my high school who attend those colleges now so I can hear their stories and compare their experiences to the ones that I’ll probably have if I choose to attend that school,” Drobner wrote.
The overall acceptance rate last year was 17.74 percent with an admitted class numbering 3,636. Of those, 3,071 were admitted regular decision and 557 were admitted early decision. The regular decision and early decision admission rates for the Class of 2016 were 16.00 percent and 38.00 percent, respectively.
The University will report the overall acceptance rate for the Class of 2017 only once the uncertainty clears over whether or not any students will be taken off of the waitlist.
The Office of Undergraduate Admissions does not usually disclose the number of applicants offered a spot on the waitlist.
This post was updated on April 4 to reflect new information.
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