College admit rate falls

Director of College Admissions Deborah Chermonte and Michael Mandarin, her counterpart in the Conservatory, looked tired on Monday.

It is crunch time for college admissions; All Roads marked the peak of campus visits, and counselors are busy answering last-minute questions, placing final phone calls and waiting until Saturday, when admitted students must accept or decline admission to Oberlin.

It is too early to know what the class of 2003 will look like, but the information that is available suggests Oberlin is continuing to boost its selectivity and meet its admissions targets.

The college's admissions rate fell five percent this year to 58 percent, the lowest it has been in almost 10 years, while the Conservatory admitted 32.4 percent, a figure close to last year's.

Both Chermonte and Mandarin were pleased with the rates.

"This is really wonderful news for the college," Chermonte said. Bringing the admit rate down has been a goal of the college for some years. The rate swelled to 72 percent in 1995.

"The rate is fabulous in terms of selectivity," Mandarin said. "We are still one of the most selective music schools in the country."

The Conservatory is looking to enroll 135 new students, and the college has a target of 595 first-years and 50 transfer students.

Both the college and the Conservatory saw increases in the number of applications this year. The college had over 3900 applicants, a 7 percent increase over last year. More than 1150 students applied to the Conservatory, up 5 percent from last year.

Chermonte attributes some of the increase in college applications to the fee-wavered on-line application, which debuted this year. About 900 students took advantage of this new option.

This was also the first year that admission decisions were sensitive to applicants' ability to pay. Although the General Faculty approved the switch to need-sensitive admissions five years ago, this was the first year the College used it. Chermonte and Mandarin both said the switch was difficult, but seemed to run smoothly.