Applications reach record level

Author: Annabelle Fowler

The Office of Admissions has received a record 7,680 applications for the Middlebury Class of 2012, a seven-percent jump in the number of applicants compared to last year. Admissions officials expect the pool to grow to roughly 7,800 as they continue to receive applications that were mailed before Jan. 1, the postmark deadline.

This year's larger applicant pool was partly anticipated because Harvard College and Princeton University dropped their early admission programs this past fall. Some candidates who would have applied early to either school are now part of the Middlebury application pool. According to Dean of Admissions Bob Clagett, this will make admissions decisions more difficult than before.

The Class of 2011 was targeted to be 600 students, but 640 enrolled, not including February-admitted students. This growth was the result of a yield of around 46 percent, a two-percentage-point increase from the yield for the Class of 2010. The Class of 2012 is targeted to comprise 570 regular and 90 February students. Because of the potential for a high yield of matriculations of admitted students, the College may cut back the number of acceptances this year.

"The combination of the fact that we anticipate the possibility of a higher yield, in addition to a bigger pool of applicants, means we will have the lowest admit rate in Middlebury history," Clagett explained.

Despite the increase in applications this year, the seven-percent growth rate in the number of applications is slower than those encountered in previous years. The growth in number of applications for the Class of 2011 compared to that of the Class of 2010 was 18 percent, and the expansion in the size of the Class of 2010 compared to that of 2009 was 16 percent.

Additionally, both applicant pools from Early Decision I and Early Decision II have decreased by about seven percent compared to last year. However, there is still a combined Early Decision pool of almost 900 applications, a high figure compared to those of other NESCAC colleges whose early admittance pools range from 400 to 600 candidates.

Barbara Marlow, associate director for International Admissions, reported that there are approximately 1,329 applications from international students for a place in the Class of 2012. In this pool, the 319 applications from China and 99 from South Korea are two groups that stand out because of their size. There has also been an increase in the number of applications from both Africa and South America this year.

According to Clagett, the growth in the number of applications mirrors very closely the growth in the number of visitors to the College. In fact, the seven-percent increase of the total pool is essentially the same as the increase in the number of campus visitors this year. This is not the first time this trend has occurred, and campus visits are regarded as an informal barometer for the size of the applicant pool.

Nick Meiers '10.5, a College tour guide, thinks campus visits allow prospective students to tell if they can see themselves at the College. "A lot of them come well-aware of Middlebury's high rankings, but we go through the whole tour without ever mentioning that," said Meiers. "Once they see our campus and hear about life at the College, they're sold. Instead of seeing Middlebury as a number, they see it as the community that it is."

Admission decisions are to be mailed to applicants for the Class of 2012 on March 28, a week after officials finalize the admissions procedure.