With a record-shattering 6,627 applications received and 1,631 offers extended, Kenyon’s Class of 2018 is starting to take shape. “Everything about this year was unprecedented,” Jennifer Delahunty, dean of admissions and financial aid, said about this year’s applicant pool.
Applications were up 63 percent from last year, driving Kenyon’s acceptance rate down to a highly selective 24.6 percent, an historic low for the College. Previously, the lowest acceptance rate was 29 percent in 2007, “before the housing bubble burst,” Delahunty explained.
Equally as impressive as the number of applications was the quality of the candidates. Average SAT scores climbed 13 points in all three math, verbal and written components.
This also marks the most global class Kenyon has admitted, with offers extended to 91 students from 41 countries. “We saw a 110% increase just in our international pool alone,” Sonya Broeren, associate director of admissions and international recruitment, said. “We are utilizing our alumni in different parts of the world and visiting continents we have never been to before.”
Domestically, offers of admission were mailed to 48 states and the District of Columbia with the biggest growth in the West, where 336 students were admitted, compared to last year’s 273. The 371 domestic students of color Kenyon admitted is a 10 percent increase from last year.
While not unprecedented, Kenyon saw an increase in the number of admitted first-generation students—119. The highest number was 125 in 2009.
The Admissions Office is hosting admitted students and their families on campus throughout the month of April and offering special overnight programs on April 13-14 or 17-18. Admitted students are encouraged to review their packets for details on how to register and to share news of their acceptance on Instagram under #KenyonThumbsUp.