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The whirlwind of students and parents on campus for Decision Davidson last weekend served as a reminder that the Davidson community will welcome 490 fresh faces to campus next August. This year the College admitted 848 students and those accepted through regular decision have until May 1 to accept the offer.
Despite the greater number of applicants, “The standards of acceptance remain the same,” Vice President and Dean of Admission and Financial Aid Chrisopher Gruber said.
The Class of 2012 brought 482 Davidsonians to campus last fall, so the school expects a modest incerase in class size of eight additional students.
Between early and regular decision commitments, the College has secured over 50 percent of its 490 target to date. Currently, 260 students have enrolled with 213 of those committed through binding Early Decision. While the number of students who were admitted and have decided to enroll through Early Decision is slightly higher than in the past, Dean Gruber affirmed that this Early Decision pool is high in quality and consists of a group of students who represent priorities important to the College. These include a large group of international students, legacies and recruited athletes.
Dean Gruber applauded the Davidson coaches for doing an “especially fabulous job in recruiting early this year,” and commented that the number of athletes who have signed and committed early has largely increased.
With the current economic state, the college expected this greater number of Early Decision students committing to the college, which has also benefitted the school in receiving a greater number of deposits earlier in the year.
Even with the economic difficulties facing the college, Dean Gruber stated, “Davidson is need- blind,” meaning that it does not take into consideration the financial situations of families before deciding on admitting students. Not only was there a significant increase in the number of financial aid applications, there was also an increase in the amount of money needed by these students to meet the cost of college.
Because of the increased number of admitted students last year the college did not offer any students admittance off the waitlist. But this year, planning to build a class of 490, Dean Gruber stated that the college hopes to utilize the waitlist in order to access additional traits that the Davidson is looking for in molding the class of 2013.
With Decision Davidson taking place a week late due to the late Easter break and other extenuating circumstances, the major scholarship competitions have not been decided, and other strong candidates looking at the college still have not made their decisions.
Currently, only 47 students from the Regular Decision pool have committed to Davidson, and therefore the college has been unable to do an analysis of the incoming class from regular decision.
Dean Gruber said, “every admittance is extremely intentional. The college looks for students who can not only survive but thrive in the Davidson environment, and, as the current students do, can benefit the college in a phenomenal way.”
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