New students showcase the school’s growing potential
By Geoff Peckham, News Co-Editor
As the days of summer waned, the campus began to emerge from its seasonal slumber, students in yellow shirts were carried boxes up numerous flights of stairs. Teary-eyed parents were giving their children one last hug. Eighteen year-olds coming from around the country as well as the globe were coming to a very powerful realization: they were finally on their own.
The class of 2011 had arrived.
McDaniel College greeted its incoming class of 502 students, only the fourth time an entering class has exceeded 500. Among them are 436 freshmen, and 66 transfers. They represent 24 states, as well as countries Romania, India, Botswana, Turkey, and China. There are also three new students studying here from McDaniel College Budapest this semester, another feather in the school’s international cap. One is originally from Israel; another from the, Netherlands, and the third grew up in Vienna.
Florence Hines, Vice President for Enrollment and Dean of Admissions, is excited not only about the high number of students this year, but about the type of students they have admitted. Approximately 2800 high school seniors applied last year, a record number. More than 2006 were offered admission.
Hines spoke about the admission process, in particular the entrance essay, which is one of the more important aspects of selecting students.
“The best essays are the ones that jump off the page at you. They are memorable because they are filled with the spirit of the author,” Hines said. She mentioned how important it was for students to show something very important about themselves.
Among the incoming students Hines has read was a boy who had eight rules to live by, given to him by his father. A girl used a pancake metaphor to describe her search for the right college. Another girl wrote about donating her hair to Locks of Love.
Some of the more unique experiences include a student who grew up on wildlife preserves, ranging from Alaska to the Gulf Coast of Texas. Another student participated in the “One World, One Promise” international Girl
Scout Jamboree in Tsou-Ma-Lai in Taiwan.
Another record being broken was the number of honor students being enrolled, 52. There are 113 athletic team captains, 15 Eagle Scouts, 15 student newspaper editors, and 75 Student government members.
As the class of 2011 gets settled into their lives as Green Terrors, the Office of Admissions is busy preparing for the Class of 2012. For the past 10 months, Hines and others have been building the inquiry pool, encouraging campus visits, revising their publications, and promoting fall travel. Over 2600 families visited the campus last year. Over 1400 families representing the Class of 2008 have already visited, so as Hines says, they’re “off to a good start.”
And so as classes kick into gear and the autumn winds begin to stir, McDaniel College greets one of its most promising classes yet.
–FP