January 3, 2011

Early decision acceptances go out to 518 students

The Office of Undergraduate Admissions has sent out early decision acceptance letters and e-mails to 518 students, choosing the first members of the class of 2015 from the largest early decision applicant pool in the university’s history.

The record number of applications, 1,330, was up more than 15 percent from last year, and Johns Hopkins’ early decision applications have nearly tripled over the past decade, according to John Latting, dean of undergraduate admissions. The previous record number was 1,155 in 2009. The anticipated incoming class size is 1,235.

The 518 students come from 39 states and 20 countries. Two-thirds will attend the School of Arts and Sciences and one-third the School of Engineering. Significant demographic increases were seen in the early decision pool among siblings of current Johns Hopkins students, African-American students, international students (with the top five countries being South Korea, China, Canada, India and Turkey) and applicants from Southern and Western states. Latting said that the early decision class is diverse academically as well, with a growing number of students expressing interest in the humanities and social sciences.

“I’m excited about this class,” Latting said. “You can measure them all you want in terms of their grades and test scores but, more importantly, I think they are just a great group of students in terms of what they will bring to our campus community. It’s a great beginning to the class of 2015.”

Regular decision applications were due Jan. 1, with admissions decisions being released by April 1. Regular decision students are given until May 1 to enroll.