Williams starting to announce class of 2017

WILLIAMSTOWN – For some students that hope to be Ephs in the fall the stressful college application process has come to a close.

Williams College has offered admission to 248 students under its early decision plan.

Early applications increased by eight percent this year to 613, making the selection process especially competitive, according to Richard Nesbitt, director of admission.

“Due to the size and strength of the pool, we were actually able to admit a few more than we did in last year’s early decision group,” said Dir. Nesbitt. “But the competition for spaces was as keen as it has ever been.”

The 130 women and 118 men who were admitted will comprise 45 percent of the projected size (550) of the incoming Class of 2017.

Early decision is a binding agreement whereby applicants agree to attend if admitted.

The admitted students represent 217 different high schools from all around the nation and even the globe. The state with the largest representation is New York, with 38, followed by Massachusetts, with 34. New Jersey (19), California (18), Connecticut (18), Maryland (12), Pennsylvania (12), Florida (nine), Illinois (nine) and Washington (six) round out the top 10 states.

The admitted student group includes 11 international students who hail from Bangladesh, Canada, China, Kenya, Korea, Pakistan and Turkey.

American students of color comprise 29 percent of the early decision group, including 28 African-Americans, 22 Asian-Americans, 21 Latinos and one Native-American.

Twenty-one students are from “first generation” backgrounds, in which neither parent has a four-year college degree.

On the academic side, the Class of 2017 Early Decision contingent rivals any in the college’s recent past.

This is reflected in the impressive standardized test score averages: 711 critical reading, 706 math and 724 writing. A significant portion (34) indicated an interest in pursuing a doctorate in science or math, mirroring the substantial trend in that direction among Williams graduates.

Well-represented in the cohort are highly-rated artists, athletes, musicians and actors.

“I’m constantly amazed at the eclectic mix of talents,” said Dir. Nesbitt. “An incoming first-year might find he or she is rooming with a world-class skier, an accomplished jazz drummer or a national Poetry Out Loud finalist.”

Posted by Kameron Z. Spaulding on January 3, 2013. Filed under Community News,News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry