News Staff Reporter
On March 10, the Admissions Office released figures for the applications and admissions numbers for the incoming Class of 2010.
Director of Admissions Ray Diffley told The News last week that the Class of 2010 is “the most competitive class ever at Choate,” noting a 24.9 percent acceptance rate among the incoming freshmen, including 168 admissions from a pool of 674 boarding applicants, and just over 60 admissions from a pool of over 200 day student applicants.
“We [in the Admissions Office] feel that we have really caught a great class--we feel that these applicants are as prepared [for Choate] as any other pool,” said Diffley.
In total, 378 students were admitted to Choate this year, including new sophomores, juniors, and postgraduates. These new students represent 33 states and 15 countries. According to the administration they averaged a 3.75 grade point average at their previous schools. The admitted students also tested well, averaging between the 85th and 90th percentile on the Secondary School Admissions Test (SSAT), a standardized test required of all 3rd and 4th form applicants. The test consists of a writing sample and quantitative, verbal, and reading comprehension sections.
The Class of 2010 will be one of the first in Choate Rosemary Hall history to have considerably more females than males. Diffley revealed, “We are seeing a demographic shift--more women than men--and we are adjusting to that.” He noted that while applications from males and females were similar, “the female pool was stronger than the male pool,” and as a result approximately twenty more females were accepted. Diffley said that this phenomenon was more pronounced for day students, for whom the school does not have a quota for filling beds in male dorms. “This is a trend that we have been seeing over the past 2 or 3 years, and [Choate] has decided that it is not going to be a fifty-fifty school in terms of men and women in the future.”
Diffley expects that between 55 and 60 percent of admitted applicants will decide to attend Choate in the fall, and he anticipates that the Admissions Office will accept a handful of waitlisted candidates. “In a typical year, we go to the waitlist. On occasion, we are over -enrolled, but I would guess that we will admit some waitlisted candidates [for the class of 2010],” said Diffley.
Diffley also discussed the strength of the pool of waitlisted candidates and the need to move quickly in deciding which waitlisted candidates to accept. “To be quite honest, there are so many unbelievable candidates who get our waitlist letter and won’t be willing to wait, because they’ve got five other choices where they are not waitlisted.” It is Admissions Office policy not to release statistics on the waitlisted applicants.
Diffley also discussed his excitement about the Class of 2010, saying, “The question I have to ask as Director is, ‘Do we have the talent, the drive, the excellence... do we have everything we need in this class to continue Choate’s reputation as a great school worldwide?’ And the answer is yes.”
Choate is currently in the midst of Spring Visits for the admitted candidates. There are four Spring Visits dates--Monday, March 27 for boarders and Icahn Scholars, Thursday, March 30, exclusively for day students, and Tuesday, April 4th and Friday April 7th, both for boarders.
On these days, the school daily schedule shifts and many faculty and students swing into action to help “present” the school.
Notice of enrollment is due on April 10th; more will be known about the exact figures for the Class of 2010 at that time. Other admitted students will give notice of enrollment later in the year, meaning that the exact figures of enrollment will likely not be known until the days and weeks directly preceding the start of Fall Term ‘06-’07.
