Close to 8,000 fight to join Class of 2014

Applications to the College have increased by 16 percent compared to last year, with 7,976 prospective students vying for entry into the Class of 2014, according to Dean of Admissions Bob Clagett.

The increase in popularity could be attributed to the College’s gradual climb in The U.S. News and World Report’s rankings over the past few years, jumping from #11 in 2005 to #4 this year. Clagett stressed that the admissions office does not place much significance on this ranking, but he did acknowledge that the College’s rating affects its popularity.

Clagett also cited a change in “college application culture.” While only a few years ago most high school seniors applied to five to eight colleges, the trend has now moved to 10-15. This trend has resulted in an increase in applications to all schools, not just Middlebury.

Additionally, many link the increase in submitted applications to the streamlined application process. This year the College eliminated the supplemental essay component and became a Common App Exclusive User, meaning prospective students can easily submit all required materials using the CommonApp.org’s online system.

Clagett explained that the admissions office staff was downsized this year due to budget cuts, and the process of opening, reading and filing all the supplemental essays was too time-consuming for the remaining admissions staff.

“The supplement was an element of the application which created a lot of extra work for us and which, frankly, provided us with marginal information about, or rather insight into, an applicant,” Clagett said.

The recent change in application format has encouraged prospective students who might once have been deterred by the prospect of writing a supplemental essay. This theory has been supported by the only slight increase in campus visits.

While applications have increased by 16 percent, the admissions office has seen only a two-percent increase in campus visits. In fact, only 4,492 prospective students visited the campus this year.

With a generic application and relatively few applicants visiting campus before they apply, it may seem that the admissions office has no way of measuring an applicant’s genuine interest in attending the College when sorting through thousands of applications.

However, contrary to the advice many college counselors give high school students, the concept of “demonstrated interest” has never been a factor in admissions decisions.

“To us, a lack of visit has never demonstrated a lack of interest in the college,” he explained. Even applying Early Decision (ED) does not make a difference in the eyes of an admissions officer. “If anything, the bar is higher because we want to be 100 percent sure students we admit ED would be able to get in [regular decision],” Clagett said.

Of this year’s 7,976 applications, 919 were ED applications, out of which 327 students have been accepted. 280 of the students who were admitted early will matriculate in the fall, while the other 47 will arrive on campus next February. Those that have been accepted ED will make up roughly 45 percent of the Class of 2014. That leaves 7,649 applicants still awaiting their decisions, which the admissions office will send out on March 26.

Admitted students will have the chance to visit the College on the weekends of April 11-12 and April 18-19 for Campus Preview Days. Greg Buckles, director of Admissions, and Michelle Nelson, assistant director of Admissions, are in charge of planning the preview days, and have activity-filled weekends in store for an anticipated 400 prospective students and their families.

There will be several panels featuring current students and members of the faculty to inform students and parents about life at the College, as well as campus tours and classroom visits during the day.

The weekend’s entertainment will include an ice cream social and performances by the College’s a cappella and improv groups.