News Briefs

New Admissions Data Shows Better Admit Rate, Yield

Standing in for Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Debra Chermonte, President Dye read the statistics for the class of 2006 to the faculty Tuesday.
A record 4,926 students applied for admission last year, with 35 percent accepted and of that, 37 percent choosing to come to Oberlin. These are markedly different figures from some five years ago; current seniors who applied to Oberlin in 1999 saw guidebooks showing a nearly 60 percent admit rate.
However, the number of African American students in this new class has dropped from last year, from XX to 40. While OC admitted more African American students than in previous years, fewer chose to come to Oberlin.
“Our admits got picked off much more by the Ivies,” Dye said.
The percentage of the class represented by Asian American, Latino and Native American students rose slightly.
The average SAT verbal score rose to 690, math to 659. These scores were 684 and 652 last year, respectively. The median ACT of those who took it rose to 30, up from 29 last year. 65 percent of students were in the top 10 percent of their graduating class; 3.6 was the average grade point average; and 43 students were high school valedictorians.
Unexpectedly, Massachusetts supplanted California as the state to send the second most students, with 64. New York is still first, with 81; California sent 62.

Despite Egress Paths, Bats Return to Talcott, Wilder

Though Residential Life and Services worked to install one-way doors in the rafters of Talcott last year, bats are still a constant presence. Wildlife patrolmen were called to the scene at least twice this week, on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. According to sources, during the summer months, some windows were left open and bats rejoined their old comrades in Talcott’s condemned fourth floor. Bats have made appearances on numerous occasions in recent years.
Wilder, too, has seen its share of bats, though Talcott places first as the campus bat haven.

Science Center Nears Completion

Oberlin’s newest edifice, the Science Center, is nearing completion, with an official opening date set for October. Everyone from Oberlin Online to grounds crews are rallying to make the opening date and display the building’s successful construction.
This week turf was added to half the front lawn.
The $60 million building was funded by a bond issue; Development has sought to meet $20 million of the cost as part of the capital campaign.

First-year Seminar Program Begins, with New Survey

With a grant from the Hewlett Foundation, Oberlin College has begun a foray into the new world of first-year courses that offer an introduction to the academic atmosphere of Oberlin. While not mandatory, these courses, which range from Globalization Politics to How Early Jews and Christians Rewrote the Bible, have filled up rapidly with new freshmen, and offer a small, colloqiua atmosphere.
Part and parcel of the new program has been a curious seruvey, whose results are being collected by Oberlin and the Hewlett Foundation. Though purportedly anonymous, there is a line for each student’s name and OCMR.
“We need your name and OCMR so we can match this pre-course survey with the post-course survey that you will be taking at the end of the semester,” it reads.
It continues, in italic print, “Be assured that individual names will not be reported anywhere.” It gives no assurances, however, that the age, sex or other information of the student will not be reported to the foundation.
Questions include:

• “Rate the likelihood that the issues covered in this course will represent many opinions, all of which are equally good.”

• “Rate your agreement with the statement ‘most opinions expressed in the area represented by this course can be evaluated and some will prove more valuable than others.’”

• “Rate the likelihood that the information and skills learned in this course will help you in other courses outside the field represented by this course.”

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