On Monday, April 16, Hamilton College held its’ annual Accepted Students Day. Around 400 prospective students took part in the day, whichwas a slightly higher turnout compared to last year’s day.
Around a third of those who attended are committed to attending Hamilton in the upcoming year. The rest of those admitted have until May 1, National Decision Day, to finalize their decisions.
“Our admit cohort for this year includes students from 46 states and 25 countries,” said Vice President for Enrollment Management Monica Inzer. A variety of states were represented on Monday, as well as international students from Canada, China and Vietnam.
Inzer said this year’s admit cohort was one of the most selective it has been in years. “This year, Hamilton admitted 1300 students out of our record-high 6,240 applications. Our acceptance rate of 21 percent is the lowest on record, and compares with 24 percent last year and 26 percent in 2016.”
She continued: “Of our 1300 offers of admission, 19 percent went to students who applied ED1 or ED2.”
The day involved a greeting from President Wippman, campus tours, residence hall tours, informational sessions regarding study abroad and the January Admission program, the ability to sit in on classes, and more.
“I had over 25 students in a 16 person class and they were very engaged and happy to be there. I walked a few of them back over towards commons,” said Carlie Abraham ’21, a tour guide for the Admissions Office. “I saw a few that were super excited because they had gone ED [Early Decision] and were already asking about my favorite professors and good classes to take.”
Many of the tour guides focused on highlighting why they chose Hamilton, emphasizing the many unique aspects of the College.
“I had a girl who stayed with me previously on an overnight text me to meet up during accepted students day to tell me that I had helped sway her decision to commit to Hamilton,” said Katie Gagnon ’21, another tour guide. “I really like to focus on the community aspect of Hamilton and the open curriculum, which I reiterated both during her overnight and on all of my tours.”
This year’s event also saw some new additions to make the day more interactive for the prospective students.
Said Inzer: “One new feature was having Hamilton junior Josh Rothstein ‘MC’ the president’s welcome, which was much more lively and interactive for the audience.”
Despite cold, rainy weather, the day proved to be a success, both in the number of prospective students who turned out and their unique engagment with the College while on campus.
“I’m really proud of the admission team and the great work they did in pulling off this event,” said Inzer. “It is a truly a campus-wide effort and our community did not disappoint. Mother Nature? That’s another story.”
