Getting a first glimpse at the class of 2013

By Benjamin Engle

While the Union College class of 2009 is only weeks away from matriculation, the Union Admissions Department is working hard to complete the admissions process for the incoming Class of 2013.

While the final profile of the class of 2013 will not be completed for another two to three weeks, Vice President for Admissions, Financial Aid, and Enrollment Matthew Malatesta '91 believes that the incoming freshman class is one Union's strongest and diverse in its history.
Composed of 52% of men and 48% women, 19% of the class of 2013 is made up of students of color and 4% are international students. The 23% represents an increase of 6% over the six-year average.

Malatesta believes that Union is attracting a group of high academic quality. The average SAT score for the incoming class was 1290, an increase of 20 points from the class of 2012 and up 30 points compared to the six-year average. Additionally, the average ACT score was 28.

However, Malatesta stated that Admissions still considers the transcript the most important aspect of a prospective student's application. Of the students entering the class of 2013, 60% submitted their SAT scores.

"I think the idea students are more than their scores has brought [Union] a more quality student," said Malatesta.

While the incoming class is a diverse one, only 4,821 applications were submitted for admission into the class of 2013, a 9% decrease from Union's record application level for admission into the class of 2012. The class of 2013 was chosen, however, from the third largest applicant pool in the school's history.

This year, around 40% of applicants were accepted. Malatesta stated that he and his staff targeted the class of 2013 to be made up of approximately 565 students.

However, his team's work is far from completed. As of May 18, Union's acceptance yield is down 2% in that Admissions has received 530 deposits, 35 short of their goal.

In order to fill the class, Union has extended admission to the college to 30 students on the waitlist.

"We have a strong waitlist of many students who want to be at Union," said Malatesta.
Malatesta believes that Union missed its target for various reasons, including the economy and need for better communication with prospective students.

"We didn't give out enough acceptances," Malatesta said, "But we are taking good students off the waitlist. We are not done with the process and we are looking to finish in one to two weeks."
"We lost a large number of prospective students to state colleges because of the economy," he added.

Additionally, Union lost numerous students to similar schools that offered larger merit scholarships than Union does. According to Malatesta, 65% of the class of 2013 will receive some type of Union scholarship, whether through need-based aid or merit scholarships.
Of the 65% receiving aid from Union, 90% are receiving need-based aid while 10% are receiving merit scholarships.

Malatesta also believes that he and his staff did not admit enough students since they were aggressive in going after very impressive applicants to the college.

However, Malatesta is not concerned that the incoming class is not as large as the class of 2012. He believes that having two large classes in a row could hurt the quality of experience at Union. He states that it would disrupt Union's tradition of a low student to faculty ratio as well as its ability to house students comfortably.

"Overall enrollment is very strong," Malatesta said. "We have plenty of applicants to choose from."

Originally published in Union's Concordy on 5/21/09