CLASS OF 2013: RECORD-BREAKING SMARTS
Casey Cheney
Issue date: 9/10/09 Section: News
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Director of Admissions Jeff Lantis said the class of 2013 now has the honorable challenge of proving itself. He said that while test scores certainly play a large role in the admission process, they also look for students who will be a good fit on the campus.
"We spend a lot of time making sure each student that comes here sees the college for what it is," Lantis said, adding that the admissions team makes sure students will know if the campus isn't right for them.
The admission rate this year was 62 percent, compared to 65 percent in 2008.
Leadership skills, volunteer work and demonstrations of ambition also factor into the decision to accept or deny an application. Lantis said he looks forward to seeing how effective the selection was with this freshman class.
"It remains to be seen if this year's class is a good fit," he said.
But so far, Lantis says everything looks good - and administration and faculty agree.
Dean of Women Diane Philipp said she is excited about the freshmen.
"It's been noticeable how friendly they are," she said, though she clarified that they also seem very serious about the academic endeavors.
"I think they're serious about their academics," she said, attributing part of that to the challenging level at which students are required to perform.
"We're a highly selective institution and we advertise that fact."
Associate Provost David Whalen spoke to the freshmen during orientation. He said a couple unusual occurrences took place before and after the speech. When senior Kiernan Schroeder introduced Whalen, she mentioned that he had 10 children. While most times freshmen manage wide-eyed stares and astonished gasps, this class spontaneously broke into applause.
Whalen jokingly told the dean to be careful, dealing with so many students enthusiastic about procreation.
Students were eager to meet with Whalen after his speech and accept the challenge he gave them to undertake their education at Hillsdale seriously.
Associate Professor of English Stephen Smith said he also noticed how engaged the freshman class is this year.
"From what I've seen in class [they are] willing to learn and willing to struggle and willing to work," he said. "It certainly makes me happy as a teacher to encounter that."
It surprised Smith how comfortable the students were with speaking up in his classes. He said he was also surprised at their knowledge of the Iliad.
"They are my first class to think that Zeus's first words in the poem were 'Oh, bother,'" he said, referring to a true or false quiz he gives to each freshman class at the begin-ning of each year. Zeus's actual first words in the work are "Oh, disaster."
While he finds humor in the situation, Smith has been impressed at the initiative and intensity of the class of 2013.
Whalen said this year's freshmen seem more engaged than usual, which may be "a happy accident" or a sign of similar groups to come.
"Classes have their own personality," he said. "[They seem] less anxious about their esteem in other people's eyes."
In addition, for the first time in over four years, the incoming class consists of more men than women with 184 men and 178 women, a ratio of 51-to-49. The ratio of men to women last year was 44-to-56, one of the largest swings the campus has seen in a long time. In the preceding two years, the women outnumbered the men by only about 2 percent.
In the freshman class, eight foreign students represent several countries including Can-ada, Germany and Kenya. This number is up one from last year and has been increasing over the past several years. Lantis said this is an encouraging sign due to the difficulties foreign students must overcome since Sept. 11.
Approximately 14 percent of the freshman class received a home education, 38 percent private and 48 percent public.
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