Class of 2014 Admission Statistics

Colleges and Universities A-Z Wellesley College
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<p>Wellesley has a page</a> of statistics for the new class on its new website. A spreadsheet analysis shows some interesting numbers:</p>

<p>Class size: 636 (this is ~30-40 more students than usual, although it may still decline from continued "summer melt" through August.)</p>

<p>Acceptance rate: 33.8%
Yield: 44.3% (so far, see "Class Size")</p>

<p>Secondary Schools: 62% public, 34% private, 4% parochial, 0% home schooled.</p>

<p>Geographic Distribution: New England,21%; Mid-Atlantic, 16%; South, 16%; Central,13%; Pacific & Mountain,20%; International & Americans Abroad, 13%</p>

<p>Ethnicity: ALANA, 43%, White/Caucasian, 43%, International, 11%, Unknown/Not Reported/Other, ~3%</p>

<p>The page has a table of SAT score "bands" (750-800, 700-740, 650-690, etc.) showing, for each band, how many students applied, were accepted, and enrolled. This information is very interesting when additional analysis is applied. It seems that there is definitely a preference for admitting students who score in the highest reading bands, with 59% accepted in the 750-800 band, and 48% in the 700-740 band. Interestingly, this isn't the case with math where only 37% and 42% are admitted from the highest two bands, and the acceptance rate doesn't drop much in the lower bands to 600-640. There appears to be a lesser focus on students with high-achieving math scores, and a willingness to accept students with lower math SAT scores.</p>

<p>The most interesting story is the yield in these bands. While 27% and 39% of admitted students in the top 2 reading SAT bands (750-800, 700-740) enrolled, 39% and 51% of the top 2 math SAT bands enrolled. Although the school doesn't appear to be striving for the top math scoring students, those high-scoring math students seem to be selecting Wellesley after being accepted. Even more interesting, the yield in the next two bands is relatively high for accepted students with SAT reading scores of 650-690, 52%; 600-640, 58%. Students with lower reading SAT scores were more likely to enroll after being accepted than those with higher scores. However, in math yields fall off to 650-690, 39%; 600-640, 42%. Students with lower math SAT scores are less likely to enroll after acceptance than students with higher math scores. </p>

<p>The result is that (when officially published) the 25th percentile for math scores for the class of 2014 should be at least 750, and the 75th percentile should be at least 650. This appears to be a distinct change for the school, where class math SATs 25-75 percentile bands slightly lagged reading SAT scores. Perhaps it is the influence of having a scientist as the President of the school.</p>

<p>I hope this would be of interest to applicants. Comments?</p>

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<p>Shouldn’t that be the other way around? 25th percentile is 650 and 75% is 750?</p>

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<p>Depends which way you are counting - from the top or bottom. But you are correct, it is more conventionally done the other way. Doesn’t change the conclusion, though.</p>

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<p>What do you mean by this:
“although it may still decline from continued “summer melt” through August.” ?</p>

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<p>There is still some shifting around that occurs during August and doesn’t end until AFTER classes start, and people are taken off waiting lists, mostly from the Ivies. When that occurs, the numbers at Wellesley may drop a bit (though it would be unlikely to be too many).</p>

<p>I personally know someone a few years back who was offered a slot at Harvard one week into her freshman classes. She declined.</p>

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<p>the class size is actually 685.</p>

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<p>^^No, it isn’t. It seems that that’s about how many people accepted admission, but over the summer people deferred or got off the waitlist at other schools. There are 639 people in the college directory (information only listed in the campus directory, not the public one) listed under “Class of 2014”, and I’ve heard numbers in the high 630s from people around campus with some knowledge (students who work in admissions and/or residential life), so I think it’s pretty accurate.</p>

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<p>idk i have access to the student directory for incoming students and it tells me there’s 685 people in the freshman class.
but the student directory appeared in July, i think, so it might not have been updated since then.</p>

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<p>Oooh. Additional information-
“The proportion of accepted students who chose Wellesley was the highest it has been in more than 10 years—so high, in fact, that we didn’t use our wait list this year.”</p>

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<p>My numbers are the most recent numbers–I did that search while typing my post, and similar numbers have been upheld by other on-campus sources. As I said, apparently about 680-690 students DID accept admission (which is a very high percentage for Wellesley), but 40-50 of those students are not actually coming–they got off the waitlist at another school, or they are taking a gap year, or whatever, but they aren’t enrolling in the fall, leaving about 640 students in the incoming class. 640 is still a big class at Wellesley, but not outrageously so (685 would be an outrageously large class–about 100 more than my own class). I don’t want to claim that these are official numbers, because they’re not, but they are the numbers that match up with the directory and which have been quoted by students fairly in the know on campus.</p>

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<p>In fact, (per the office of the first year experience) the first year online directory included transfers, members of the staff who post to the mailing list, and several other groups. Therefore, the 680-690 number in the directory was probably not the number who accepted initially. In any case, per the stats on their web page, the class adds up to 636. I would bet 630 by the time classes start.</p>

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<p>

re: Yield. I have seen stats on other website suggesting that Wellesley has had 41 and 42% yields in the recent past. The yield I calculated (44.3%) would be significantly higher, and would be consistent with their statement above. They reduced their acceptance rate this year from (recently) 36 to 33.8 and their yield went up.</p>

<p>A possible consequence - a pretty significant decrease in acceptance rate next year, and possibly few to no transfers into the sophomore class.</p>

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<p>I am current freshman, and I am very unhappy. Wellesley has too many obnoxious math types. It is not the college I thought it was, where liberal arts is a priority. (I know liberal arts includes math, but these girls should be at MIT. And the are SERIOUSLY immature and obnoxious).</p>

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<p>Are you taking only math classes this semester? If not, what are the people like in your other classes? Have you joined any clubs? What about the other people in your dorm?</p>

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<p>Folks it wouldn’t surprise me if Latinlover was a phony…read all “her” posts…poor grammar and spelling…I doubt if “she” could get into Wellesley or Mt. Holyoke. Give it up.</p>

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<p>I agree with Bossf51 - according to her profile, Latinlover is 20 and will be 21 this spring, which is a little old for a freshman. She’s a year older than my D who is a second year student. My D is definitely NOT a math type, and has never complained about “obnoxious math types.” </p>

<p>If Latinlover is for real, then she would better spend her time on CC researching the possibility of transferring to a school that is a better fit for her, instead of using every post to bash Wellesley.</p>