New Paltz is hotter than ever.
Beginning next week, the college will welcome 1,800 of the best and brightest students to campus, 1,300 of which are first-year students.
David Eaton, vice president for enrollment management, said the college continues to offer admission to the very best applicants and due to its rising reputation, many of them have accepted.
“We are becoming known as the quality institution that we really are and many more students are making us their first choice,” said Eaton. “It seems the distinction is accurate – we are the hottest small state school in America.”
This is reflected in this year’s exceptionally high yield rate of 24 percent for accepted first-year students, which is a 14 percent increase over last year’s 21-percent yield. In other words, more students than in previous years who were offered admission have accepted, Eaton said.
This year’s larger-than-normal class was selected from an applicant pool of 13,868, which represents the 18th consecutive year that New Paltz has received the most new student applications among all SUNY colleges.
The number of first-year student applications has risen 54 percent since 2000 and as a result, New Paltz remains one of the most selective universities in the Northeast, accepting only 35 percent of its applicants.
In addition, Eaton said that the quality of the students New Paltz attracts continues to rise. This year, 100 percent of New Paltz’s accepted first-year students came from the top two of five SUNY quality groups, up from 98 percent last year and 75 percent in 2001. First-year students from the top two groups have a mean SAT score of 1160 and a high school average of above 90.
First-year students will arrive on campus on Aug. 21 for Moving In Day. They will be joined a few days later by about 500 transfer students, the acceptance rate for which continues to be a selective 34 percent of this year’s total 2,566 applicants.
A new site for Convocation
The college will usher in the new academic semester with the annual Convocation ceremony on Aug. 22. This year’s program will take place in the Athletic and Wellness Center.
Professor Maureen Morrow (Biology)
Maureen Morrow (Biology) will be the convocation speaker. Morrow, who received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Service at the 2008 May Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony, is director of the college’s Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities program.
“I am honored to be representing the outstanding faculty at New Paltz and am excited to meet the class of 2012,” she said. “I would like to encourage the students to take advantage of all the college has to offer, especially through getting to know individual faculty members.”
This year, the ceremony was organized by alumnus Michael Vanderbilt ’08 (Theatre Arts). Vanderbilt worked with special events coordinator Judy Albertson (Development), who retired in June, on convocation and commencement events for the past four years. Rachel Gande ’08 (English) also assisted in planning the event.
In order to provide a warm welcome to the 1,800 new students, faculty and staff are encouraged to attend the Convocation ceremony and the all-campus barbecue that will follow on the Athletic and Wellness Center lawn. Those who would like to participate must register on my.newpaltz.edu.
Faculty and staff are also encouraged to help students move into the residence halls. For more information on participating in Moving In Day on Aug. 21, contact Linda Knoth (Student Development) at x3088 or knothl@newpaltz.edu.