Class of 2015 admission rate sinks to 9.6 percent
Class of 2015 admission rate sinks to 9.6 percent
On Monday, MIT celebrated pi day by granting admission to 1,715 high school seniors. Despite an increase in class size to 1,120 — up by about 60 from the current freshman class size — the class of 2015’s admission rate was a staggeringly low 9.6 percent. With 17,909 applications overall, the admissions office saw an 8 percent increase in applications from last year, driving the admit rate down from last year’s 9.7 percent.
In an e-mail, Dean of Admissions Stuart Schmill ’86 said the applicant pool this year was “quite robust.” Admissions saw a larger increase in applications from women and underrepresented minority students. Nearly half of admitted applicants — 49 percent — were women, while 8 percent were international citizens. The class of 2014, by comparison, is 45 percent women and 8.7 percent international.
An exceptionally diverse class, the class of 2015 is 10 percent African American, 30 percent Asian American, 34 percent Caucasian, 15 percent Hispanic, 1 percent Native American, plus 8 percent international. Including U.S. citizens who are living abroad, 13 percent of 2015 students don’t live in the U.S.. The class of 2014 is 39 percent Caucasian, 26 percent Asian American, 13 percent Hispanic, 9 percent African American, and 1 percent Native American.
The admitted students also represent 65 countries and all 50 states. The biggest percentage of students — 21 percent — hail from the West coast, while the Mid-Atlantic region boasts a close second with 19 percent. Nineteen percent of 2015’s class is from the Mid-Atlantic area, 15 percent from the South, 13 percent from the Midwest and Plain states, and 10 percent from the Southwest and Mountain regions. Surprisingly, only 10 percent of admitted students come from MIT’s own New England region.
—Aparna Sud