Mia Fischel, Asst. Features Editor—

The entering class of 2027 is a group admitted from roughly 14,500 applicants, a 19% increase from last year and a record number in Denison’s history. About 1,600 of those applications were early decision, a 43% increase from last year.

Drew Riley, Assistant Vice President and Director of Admission, is excited to see what this talented and diverse group of students will bring to campus. Pulled from different ethnic, cultural, geographical, economic and various individual backgrounds, what these students have in common is their exceptional performance in school and deep involvement elsewhere. 

“I think there’s a self-selection factor where the students who end up choosing Denison really buy into the value of Denison, and increasingly we’re not anybody’s backup school,” Riley said. “This really is a top choice for students who come here, and I think that enthusiasm will be really notable as they enter campus.”

Over the past couple of years, freshman class sizes at Denison have grown. This is not because more students have been admitted, but because more admitted students are accepting spots.

“Our yield rate has been stronger than we’ve anticipated for the last couple of years, so we’re taking that into account this year [and] admitting fewer students,” Riley said. “We’ve over-enrolled, but just slightly, by 30 students or so last year than what we originally anticipated.” Riley said.

Compensating for the 685 students in the Class of 2026, the Class of 2027 is expected to be smaller. Admissions plans to admit just over 2,400 students, and of those, about 620 students are expected to enroll. An increasingly competitive admissions environment, Denison’s acceptance rate this year is 17%, down from 22% last year.

“It is tough because there are students who we would’ve admitted two, three, four years ago, that we won’t have space to admit this year just because we have an influx of applicants, and they’re really strong,” Riley said.

In preparation for next year, residential facilities plan for ongoing renovations on residential buildings. In Summer 2023, Upper and Lower Elm will be renovated with replacements of flooring, lighting, furniture, kitchen appliances and more. With the new additions, King Hall is expected to house nearly 80 students in Fall 2023.

“In the past, some students might have had an open space in their room for a variety of reasons. This is no longer the norm,” said Cari Meng, Senior Director of Residential Communities and Housing. “We are able to house all enrolled students, but have very limited open bed space remaining.”

The incoming class is not only expected to be academically talented, but also invaluable as a community. Denison is also welcoming its second cohort of Questbridge applicants as the program continues to grow in population on campus.

Nathan Graves, First Year Dean and Director of Orientation and First Year Experience, is ready to welcome and guide the new class through this tough transitional period.

“I hope that they continue to be a group of students who are open to meeting new people, trying new things and investing deeply into a place that is investing a lot into who they are,” Graves said.