makeup of the class of 2012

Colleges and Universities A-Z Carleton College
1

<p>From the student paper:
"As of now, excluding students yet to be accepted from the waitlist, there will be 496 students, 250 men and 246 women,with 21% of those students coming from multicultural background and 7% of new students coming from foreign countries."</p>

<p>There was a 2% increase in the number of apps.</p>

<p>More men than women is a bit of a change - I wonder if the ultimate incoming freshman will match these stats. Are guys more likely to switch to an Ivy? </p>

<p>Am I right that the % of multicultural (always think that's a funny term) students is down a bit and int'l up a bit?</p>

2

<p>Interesting....
do you know the total number of applications?</p>

3

<p>I think the total number of applications was 4950, IIRC.</p>

4

<p>Haven't carleton classes historically had a few more women than men? Which would lend itself to helping some girls on the waitlist now! They're probably looking to diversify still though right? I should have told them I want to study EVRYTHING, that's diverse right? I think it might be kind of a hinderance being from MN, they have plenty of qualified candidates to choose from here.</p>

5

<p>Does anyone happen to know the rest of the admissions stats? If you do, that would be swell; if not, no worries. I really hope that my best friend got in off the waiting list!! Also, do you happen to know how to access that student news paper thing if you haven't received a Carleton email address yet?</p>

<p>Many thanks.</p>

6

<p>This'll get you summaries of the 'tonian
The</a> Carletonian
but to read an article in depth, it seems you need to log in. Not sure how you get an account - I'm an alum so I only know that route of access.</p>

<p>Firefly - what's IIRC? Did you calculate the number from 2% over last years?
Thanks</p>

7

<p>IIRC = If I Recall Correctly</p>

<p>4950 is the number cited in the article.</p>

8

<p>I emailed the Carletonian to see if a parent could gain access to the entire article. Although I was impressed with the rapidity and thoughtfulness of the reply, I was informed that I would need a subscription to gain access. Shane (who runs the website) indicated that he hoped this would change in the near future. In the meantime ... would someone with a subscription please post the article referenced in post # 6 above.</p>

<p>As always, thank you in advance for your help.</p>

9

<p>Fireflyscout - Big chuckle when I read your explanation. I was working on some variant of Institutional Research:)</p>

<p>Treeman and others - Here's the article from the 'tonian:</p>

<p>Competition rises as applicant pool grows; College sees a two percent increase in number of applicants
May 9, 2008
By Evan Sander</p>

<p>The end of spring term, for many Carleton students, means sundresses and Wednesday night island parties. For the school’s admissions department, however, April and May represent a conclusion to all of their efforts from throughout the year. The admissions office plays a crucial role as it makes tough decisions to determine the future of the student body and is central in publicizing the school nationally and internationally. After sifting through thousands of applications from November to March, the admissions office now reaps the fruit of their labors as accepted students have responded to the school for the class of 2012.</p>

<p>And it’s been good news for the school. With one of the biggest high school graduating classes in history, there was a 2% increase in the number of applicants as the pool rose to 4950 applicants. Accepted students are coming from 40 states and 16 foreign countries. As of now, excluding students yet to be accepted from the waitlist, there will be 496 students, 250 men and 246 women,with 21% of those students coming from multicultural background and 7% of new students coming from foreign countries. While the admissions office has a target of about 490 students for the class of 2012, other schools’ waitlist activity will affect Carleton’s class size. In addition, the admissions office is still waiting for more deposits to come in, which would increase the number of students for next year’s freshman class.</p>

<p>“We did not see anything dramatic in our applicant pool as a result of this being a bigger high school graduating class, nor did it alter the admission office's approach in recruitment or selection,” said Paul Thiboutot, Dean of Admissions. “We just braced for larger numbers of applicants.”</p>

<p>While many of the trends held steady in terms of geographic and multicultural draw in the applicant pool, the number of international students applying who did not need financial aid doubled from about 50 applicants last year to 100 applicants this year. The number of accepted students who applied early decision also increased. According to Thiboutot, “The consensus among the admission staff is that it has gotten progressively more difficult to gain admission in each of the last three years. The objective measures of quality like course selection in high school, GPA and class rank and standardized testing all are inching up a bit, as well as the array of talents which student applicants bring to the table.”</p>

<p>“On a comparative basis this seemed a more competitive class for admission,” said Thiboutot. “I hope this is a sign for the future, because we do want to attract the most talented group of students to pursue study at Carleton.”
While the class of 2012 is comfortably settled, the admissions staff will stay busy throughout the summer preparing for next years’ efforts. In the fall, the hectic schedule will start up again for an office with never-ending responsibilities.</p>

10

<p>In my experience as a Carleton parent and alum, you likely will not see a lot of "admissions statistics" emanating from Carleton. I've been receiving alumni information from Carleton since the 1970's. Throughout this period, Carleton seems steadfast in its decision not to make college admissions a "game" to be measured by admission rates and yield. It appears to me that Carleton is quite content with the self-selection that limits the number of "unqualified applicants" in its admissions pool, and thus the number of applicants overall, without sacrifice of objective measures such as GPAs and SAT and ACT scores. For contrast, see the public relations surrounding admissions statistics at a school like Middlebury. I'm not criticizing Middlebury, which I'm sure is every bit as good as Carleton in all respects; rather, I'm noting a clear difference in approach to the public use of admissions statistics.</p>

11

<p>Seems to be working for Middlebury. Applications are up 49% in the last 3 years, and the alumni giving rate has increased from approximately 50% in 2004 to near 60% this year.</p>

12

<p>Exactly my point, arcadia. Increasing the number of applications does not necessarily mean that the quality of the student body increases. Last time I checked, the objective admissions qualifications of students from the two schools are very similar. And I believe that both schools have very high alumni giving rates (last I checked, Carleton was #1 among LACs; maybe Middlebury has ascended to the throne?). Different fine schools take different approaches to the public display of admissions statistics; neither is right or wrong.</p>

<p>The important concept that often gets lost in these discussions is that different colleges fit different students. Carleton was a perfect fit for my older child, but would not work for my younger. He's looking at Middlebury...</p>

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<p>Carleton is still #1 among LACs in terms of alumni giving rate, which is one reason I mentioned this metric.</p>

14

<p>pbr -- your comment about Carleton fitting one child and Middlebury the other really begs for explication. What do you see as the differences as they apply to your children? I think this is really interesting given your comment that you see each of the two colleges as "every bit as good" as the other.</p>

<p>Just curious ... I have two younger children in the college pipeline.</p>

15

<p>Mildly disturbing to see a higher male admit rate than female, given the general trend toward a greater preponderance of qualified female applicants. Men already have a sizable boost in college admissions; I don't know why Carleton would need to cater to it further.</p>

16

<p>Treesnogger:
The trend you quote is certainly a general national one, but not institutional specific. Why is it hard to believe that the top of the male applicant pool to Carleton this year was of similar quality to that of the women applying? Carleton accepted only 4 more males than females out of a class of about 500. Last year, the breakdown was 255 women to 254 men. The school is in fact slightly female dominant - the overall female/male breakdown is 52%/48%. By peer comparison, among top LACs, Amherst and, from your neck of the woods, Pomona, actually have a greater than 50% male presence among their student bodies. Schools like Princeton and Rice have long had a male dominance on campus. What attracts male applicants? Sports programs and strong science offerings (e.g. Carleton). Many schools intentionally maintain or have actually restarted expensive sports programs (football in particular) because of their demonstrated ability to recruit qualified male applicants. As you point out, a shrinking commodity on the national scene.</p>

17

<p>I was just going to ask bingle if Carleton has invoked AA for men, or if it's a fluke. Kenyon is open about doing so.</p>

18

<p>treesnogger:</p>

<p>The simple explanation is my older child was school-focused, and less concerned about location. (We live in a region where there are few national private schools.) My younger wants to spend four years in the northeast (although he's spent less than two weeks of his life there).</p>

19

<p>pbr:</p>

<p>I'm treeman, not treesnogger, and thanks for the reply to my query.</p>

<p>treesnogger:</p>

<p>By your reasoning, we should be pretty upset at Harvey Mudd and Olin. Given the national trend in engineering focused schools being heavily dominated by men, you must be upset to see a more balanced (not yet equal) distribution by gender at these two fine colleges. Writing as the father of a high school sophomore who in two years will burst on the college scene as a potential female engineer, Harvey Mudd and Olin are the only two engineering focused colleges on her radar. Coincidence? </p>

<p>By the same token, you must be miffed that Smith College has double the percent of its students who have received Pell Grants than most comparable, highly selective LACs. See USNews.com:</a> America's Best Colleges 2008: Liberal Arts Colleges: Economic Diversity among top-ranked schools In fact, Smith at 26 %, Wellesley at 15 %, and Bryn Mawr at 14 % are the top three among those schools that USNAWR labels the top liberal arts colleges. Carleton is at 11 % and Middlebury, also mentioned on this thread, is at 8 %. Or how about colleges that have a higher percent of international students than the norm? Should that trigger alarm or dismay?</p>

<p>I, for one, applaud Carleton's balance. And I know that my daughter, who will be attending Carleton in the fall, was pretty darn excited to read about it as well. She absolutely refused to apply to any of the women's colleges (her preference, not mine), and was very aware of schools that struck a balance between the sexes. Not because she is worried about her social life, but because she wants all kinds of diversity. For her part, my daughter was very concerned about the relatively high percent of students at the top LACs who had attended private high schools. In her mind, this stat was used as an indicator of potential diversity of thought and culture. And in this respect, Carleton shines in comparison to its peer institutions. Should we be concerned that they admit a much higher percent of public school students than, say, Grinnell or Amherst?</p>

20

<p>treeman: </p>

<p>Let me begin this by saying that I have nothing against public schools or the students who attend them--many, many of my friends are such students, and they are just as bright, funny, interesting, and well-rounded as my private school classmates. I think it's great that Carleton admits seizable amounts of both public and private students, and I also commend your daughter for considering the diversity factor when she was looking at colleges. </p>

<p>However, please don't assume that all private school kids think alike, act alike, or are alike. As someone who goes to a private prep school and has friends at various private schools, I've noticed that each private school is different in terms of culture and thought--granted, some less so than others, but different all the same. I go to my school specifically because it is so diverse; I didn't want to go to the local high school because it was so white, so conservative, and so preppy. I wanted to learn with students from different countries, different religions, and different beliefs, and in my city, going to a private school was the best way for me to do this. I know there are a lot of stereotypes out there about private kids being rich, close-minded, and spoiled, and I just wanted to clarify that, while there are definitely private kids like that (and public ones too!), we're certainly not all that way and certainly not all alike in terms of thought and culture.</p>