June 11, 2012

Class of 2016 nets highest yield at Homewood

Another record-breaker: 37.5 percent of admitted students have enrolled

In the Office of Undergraduate Admissions at The Johns Hopkins University, the story is much the same this spring as it has been for the past two years: Once again, the incoming freshman class has given the Homewood schools their highest-ever yield from an increasingly large pool of applicants.

As of June 1, 37.5 percent of the 3,632 high school students offered admission into the undergraduate class of 2016 have enrolled, for a class of 1,362 students. The freshmen were drawn from a record-breaking 20,504 applicants, up 6 percent from last year. The admit rate held steady for a second year in a row at a record low of 18 percent.

In terms of diversity, the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences and the Whiting School of Engineering have been enrolling more students who are African-American, Hispanic and Native American each year since 2009. The 273 incoming freshmen from underrepresented minorities make up 19.6 percent of the class of 2016, up from 12.9 percent three years ago.

The Admissions Office has noted an increase this year in the percentage of humanities students enrolling, with 28 percent of students indicating they wish to major in the humanities, up from 24 percent last year. The top five states that the enrolling students call home are the same as last year, although Maryland has overtaken California at third place. New York and New Jersey hold first and second place, with Pennsylvania rounding out the top five.

The target for the freshman class was pegged at 1,275, a number that allowed for 30 more students than in the previous freshman class. The class of 2016 had a higher-than-expected response rate, though admissions officials expect to lose some of these students with “summer melt,” the admissions term describing the seasonal phenomenon when some students change their plans. For instance, 1,302 students enrolled in the class of 2015, which was targeted at 1,245; by the time the class moved into the residence halls in late August 2011, 57 students had changed their plans, bringing the class to its targeted size. Even so, university officials are making preparations to welcome a class that is slightly larger than anticipated, including securing extra housing options and adding new sections of many popular gateway courses if necessary.

Because the class is currently at capacity, the university released the majority of wait-listed students in late May; a small number of students were offered spots on a “summer wait list.”

The increased enrollment figures are, in part, the result of many university initiatives, including admitted-student events hosted by the Admissions Office throughout April. This year’s signature events—two two-day Spring Open House and Overnight Programs—brought more than 930 admitted students and 1,770 total guests to campus.