By Nick DiIorio
Assistant News Editor
The Admission office at Denison University recently extended acceptance letters and $50 million in financial aid to nearly 50 percent of the 4850 high school seniors who applied, according to Perry Robinson, the Vice President and Director of Admissions. This is compared to a 45.5 percent acceptance rate for the class of 2017, which marked one of the most selective years in recent history for Admissions.
While selectivity is a factor in determining Denison’s national ranking among colleges and university, the academic background and quality of incoming freshmen will be the primary determinant in assessing Denison’s position in the national community of higher education.
The average GPA, ACT, and SAT test scores were 3.6, 29, and 1295 respectively. This represents a sustainment of the averages for the students that were presented offers last year and is seen as a strong measure of Denison’s commitment to high academic standards. Although, 20 percent of those who were sent acceptance letters chose not submit their ACT or SAT scores, which highlights some of the growing apprehension around aptitude tests as significant indicators of academic achievement and intelligence.
The Admissions office hopes to have 640 of the accepted population enrolled in the class of 2018 by September when the academic year begins bringing the full-time enrollment to 2150. Perry Robinson anticipates a challenging campaign to encourage students to enroll at Denison, sighting national issues such as hyper-price sensitivity to education costs as well as the potential return-on-investment that a degree earns. He does note that “students who visit campus enroll 60 percent of the time,” which is well above the national average of 40 percent. He says, “this is because students, faculty, and staff help prospective candidates and their families differentiate Denison.”
Out of the total applicant pool, 1000 were students of color and 529 of those were accepted. Additionally, Denison extended offers to 141 international applicants. Perry Robinson notes that “this year represents largest number applications received from both students of color and international candidates in the history of Denison.” The acceptance of students of color and from various international backgrounds has been a goal for the Admissions office for a number of years now and has significantly bolstered campus diversity.
Domestically, admission offers were extended to students from 45 different states including the District of Columbia. This includes the 24 percent of accepted candidates who are from the state of Ohio, with over 50 percent of the rest coming from outside the Midwest. The gender breakdown of the accepted population saw 42 percent of the population being men, which supports the general trend of recently matriculated freshmen classes. Further, roughly 9 percent of the accepted class are siblings of current or former Denison students, which is unique among national universities.
Senior Interviewer Allie Colina, ‘14 of Hightstown, NJ, believes “we’ve recruited a diverse and impressive class from all over the country.” She is confident that after over 100 prospective student interviews, “Denison will continue to have a student body that is involved and community focused.”
It is important to remember, however, that the accepted student population will not necessarily constitute the official class of 2018. All general admission students will have until May 1 to make their enrollment decision final and some may choose to go elsewhere. The Admissions office is actively reaching out to each accepted student to encourage their matriculation to Denison.
Photo courtesy Nelson Dow