As of Wednesday, April 13 the incoming Class of 2021 reached the 300 mark, which is about the average commitment rate at this time of year.
In early spring, prospective students are still making their decisions, and so it is not unusual for the numbers to be around 300 at this point. Similarly to the past, the number of commitments will likely double to nearly 800 students, as it has the past two years.
“[Admissions] can be difficult to predict because it’s hard to tell who has a soft application or not,” Amanda Sohl, assistant vice president for enrollment and director of admission said. “So when we meet with students, we talk about our location in Columbus, academic programs, and outreach.”
This year, Capital became a Common Application school. Capital is now one of over 500 schools nationwide that is a part of the Common Application program. Through the Common Application program, students create profiles and can submit them to any of the listed schools.
This creates an easier application process since the bulk of the main application is the same information.
Another benefit of the Common Application program is that it makes a school’s application and admission numbers go up, due to the ease of the program.
“We are proud of the fact that we average over 20% of first-generation college students,” Amy Adams, vice president of enrollment services, said. “Helping them understand and navigate the application process is something that we are proud of.”
The average ACT score per student has also increased in the past few years. As of this fall semester, the average incoming freshman has scored a 25 on the ACT.
“That mark is remarkable for a school our size,” said Adams.
The current incoming class is looking to be on par with the rate in numbers as well as academic ability of the past few classes.
“Right now we are on a similar track as our recent years,” Adams said. “This incoming class is looking strong academically and we are proud of that.”
The admissions staff is still learning and using different methods to bring in students. Capital becoming a Common Application school has played a role in that.
“Word of mouth is huge for us, because many people hear about Capital through friends or relatives,” Adams said. “We always know that prospective students want to hear directly from current students, so we try to engage them in that way as much as possible.”
Sohl and Adams said they look forward to bringing in more students to be a part of the Capfam that exists on campus.
“It’s great to see the students being engaged with the community,” Adams said. “There is so much excitement in the things that are going on; so, we know we are doing something right here.”
