Census Day Brings More Data on the Phenomenal Class of 2016
Fall Break for Vanderbilt undergraduates just came and went, meaning members of the Class of 2016 probably feel like Commodore veterans now. They’ve begun to discover Nashville and what it means to live and learn on The Martha Rivers Ingram Commons. They’ve joined some of Vanderbilt’s more than 460 student organizations and eaten food from all over the world at The Commons Center or Sarratt | Rand. And they’ve started forging relationships with fellow students and professors that will significantly impact their time on campus and beyond.
Although we’re now taking applications for the Class of 2017, we’re not quite through with its predecessor yet. Every year around this time, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions reports enrolled student data that illuminates the most accurate portrait of the newest class. This act serves as a reminder of why we’re so incredibly proud of the Class of 2016 as well as a nod to the continuing enhancement of each year’s applicant pool. (These stats and more also live on our Profile throughout the year.) Indeed, as we’ve mentioned more than once, the Class of 2016 is the most academically prepared and diverse in the institution’s 139 year history.
Below are several highlights of the enrolled Class of 2016:
- Of those from high schools that report class rank, over 90% of first-year enrolled students ranked in the top 10 percent of their high school class
- 98% held the highest level of leadership or scholarship, or were engaged in national-level honor societies such as: Student body president, Class president, Student senator, Editor-in-chief of school newspaper or yearbook, Eagle Scout, and National Honor Society
- The middle 50 percentile for SAT scores increased to 1400 – 1560
- The middle 50 percentile for ACT scores increased to 32 – 34
Applications for fall 2012 first-year admission increased to 28,348, up 14.2% from the previous year’s total of 24,837, while the admit rate dropped to 14.2% from what was previously 16.4%. Moreover, as we’ve noted before, Vanderbilt continues to attract students from around the world on a more regular basis, with nearly two-thirds of the newest class hailing from outside the university’s home in the South, including 5.9% who graduated from an international high school. All of this points to a campus community that’s growing more globally aware by the year.
We are proud to share these numbers with you, but keep in mind that numbers only tell a portion of the story for any university. As it concerns Vanderbilt, we’d also encourage you to consider Nashville (the modest yet cosmopolitan city we call home, not the sappy-yet-totally-irresistible new ABC show), our progressive Opportunity Vanderbilt financial aid policy, what balance looks like for our student body, and more. Only by looking at the whole portrait of a school can you best determine where you most belong.