Bowdoin acceptance rate drops to 8.9 percent
Bowdoin admitted a record-low 8.9 percent of applicants for their class of 2023. This acceptance rate is 10.3 percent less than it was last year and the first time their acceptance rate has gone below 10 percent. The school says more first-generation students, students of color, and international students submitted applications than in previous years.
With more students matriculating than the College expected, the yield for the Class of 2022 was unexpectedly high, which resulted in the College accepting fewer students for this year.
“The likelihood of a student saying yes is increasing every year, which is great for Bowdoin,” said Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Whitney Soule. “The byproduct of that is that we can admit fewer people, because we don’t want to over enroll.”
The administration chose to alter the application process this year, giving all applicants the option to submit a short video response to supplement their application. Around 15 percent of the applicants chose to submit a video response. The video process entailed students responding to given prompts — 30 seconds to think about their answer, followed by two minutes to respond.
Other NESCAC schools saw a decline in acceptance rates as well. The acceptance rate for Amherst College decreased to 10.8 percent for this year’s applicants compared to 12.8 percent for the Class of 2022. Due to a record 8,338 applications for the Class of 2023 at Hamilton, up 34 percent from last years total of 6,240, the acceptance rate projects to be the lowest in the College’s history.
NESCAC calls for carbon-neutral investments
On April 2, the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate met to discuss a resolution calling for Tufts investments to be carbon-neutral, with other NESCAC schools taking similar steps.
Hanna Carr, a junior who worked on the resolution, explained the rationale behind its creation. “It is far too risky and a breach of fiduciary responsibility, as well as a breach of active citizenship, to remain invested in fossil fuels,” Carr said. “The time for Tufts to de-carbonize its endowment is now.” The resolution was adopted by the TCU Senate with 24 in favor and none opposed.
Amherst College have announced plans to become “carbon neutral” by 2030, transitioning campus energy infrastructure away from fossil fuel. Amherst’s plan, which came almost four years after the College’s Board of Trustees approved a Statement on Sustainability and Investment policy, calls for the use of geothermal energy sources and electric heat pumps to power campus buildings.
Amherst President Carolyn Martin said that the plan was developed from current research which says that the world has around a decade to reduce carbon emissions to avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change.
“The trustees share the conviction that the college must address the threat of climate change, both by intensifying our efforts to reduce our carbon footprint and by ensuring that we can continue to provide students with the best available education, one that prepares them to lead in the urgent work that must be done on a larger scale,” Martin said.
