Kenyon Welcomes Class of 2014

A polyglot, a Securities and Exchange Commission intern, and a nationally ranked synchronized skater will join the other 480 talented members of the Class of 2014 on Sunday, August 22, as they walk down Middle Path to attend their opening Convocation and be officially welcomed as Kenyon's newest class.

"We are so excited for this class to meet one another and the rest of the student body," says Jennifer Delahunty, dean of admissions. "This is a funny, self-effacing group of very talented students who also have huge hearts."

The class was selected from a pool of 4,063 applicants. About 9 percent of applicants chose the early decision option, with 179 of the incoming students, or 37 percent, having applied under early-decision plans. The overall admittance rate was 39 percent. Yield, or the percentage of admitted students choosing to enroll at Kenyon, was 30 percent. "Kenyon continues to be a strong draw even during economically uncertain times," said Delahunty.

Women compose 55 percent of the class, men 45 percent. Domestic students of color make up 16 percent of the class. The students hail from 39 states, with 12 percent coming from New England, 30 percent from Mid-Atlantic states, 9 percent from the South, 28 percent from the Midwest (14 percent from Ohio), and 19 percent from the West and Southwest.

Forty-one students coming from 21 countries bring international diversity to Kenyon, either as non-U.S. citizens, dual citizens, permanent residents, or "global nomads" who have grown up or spent significant portions of their lives in other countries. Another 51 are first-generation students, neither of whose parents received a four-year undergraduate degree. There are 69 "legacies" in the class, broadly defined as students having a relative who attended Kenyon.

These students were academically accomplished during their high-school years, with an average GPA of 3.84 and fully 37 percent reporting a GPA of 4.0 or above. Sixty-three percent ranked in the top 10 percent of their class, and 14 percent rose to the top 1 percent in high school. The average SAT critical reading score was 685, math score 647, and writing 676. Their average ACT score was 30. They completed an average of 4.4 AP classes and 4 units of science, and nearly 60 percent studied calculus in high school.

Kenyon's top five application overlap schools this year were, in order: Oberlin College, Middlebury College, Brown University, Vassar College, and Wesleyan University (Connecticut).

Beyond the numbers, the intellectually impressive and broadly talented Class of 2014 brings a multitude of experiences, strengths, and passions to the Kenyon community. Members of the class include a student who:

• Collected 17,000 books to aid Invisible Children through a human-rights club.
• Worked to bridge the Macedonian and Albanian communities.
• Is a quadruplet.
• Traveled the world on a boat from ages 8 to 14.
• Successfully petitioned for new legislation to move shipping lanes in order to help save the North Atlantic Right whale.
• Made his professional theater debut at the age of 13 in an Off-Broadway production of The Full Monty.
• Served as a board member of the City of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and also fought as a member of the Massachusetts Board for Persons with Disabilities to make a train station accessible.
• Volunteered to live on a food-stamp diet for a week to experience the food choices available to recipients.
• Held an internship at the natural history museum doing entomological research, and another who interned at the Securities and Exchange Commission investigating financial crimes.
• Raised hogs and chickens for 4-H.
• Has independently studied Japanese, Chinese, Nepali, and Hebrew as a native English-speaker.
• Ranked nationally as a synchronized skating team member.
• Created a prize-winning documentary on Lewis and Clark.

"The class strikes me as a diverse, fun-loving, and community-oriented group who really want to make a difference," said Jane Martindell, dean for academic advising. "We're excited to have them here."