Arts & Sciences, Engineering Enroll 880 In Class of 1999 Steve Libowitz ------------------ Editor They came. They applied. They're here. With the air still thick from Baltimore's seemingly endless summer steam, students are unpacking their bags, plugging in their computers, pouring over campus maps and preparing to settle into the Hopkins community. The 1995-96 academic year is upon us. And each of the eight schools has attracted a diverse and talented student body. Schools of Arts & Sciences and Engineering --------------------------------------------- After giving tours to more than 10,000 interested students and their families during the past year or so, the schools of Arts & Sciences and Engineering welcomed 880 freshmen to the Class of 1999, which is in line with university goals for the schools. "We purposely wanted to come in lower than the 952 we admitted last year, so as not to crowd classrooms and residency halls," said Robert Massa, dean of enrollment management. Massa noted that this is one of the most highly qualified classes in recent history, based on SAT scores, which averaged 1300 compared to 1286 for the Class of 98. Of the 880 freshmen, 635 are in the School of Arts and Sciences and 245 in the School of Engineering. They have come from 44 states and 19 countries; 335 are women and 545 men. Twenty-nine students are sons and daughters of alumni. Approximately 25 percent of the freshmen are Asian, 3 percent are Hispanic and 5 percent are African American, down slightly from last year. Paul White, who is welcoming the first class he recruited since being named director of undergraduate admissions last fall, is pleased with the makeup of the class. "We continue to attract extremely bright students, which is no different than in the past," he said, "but one thing I did want to do was to attack the image of the Hopkins student with no social life who is only concerned with studying. I made a conscious effort to look for students with a wide range of extracurricular activities who already are used to being social and active outside the classroom." School of Medicine -------------------------------- The School of Medicine, following a national trend of record-level medical school applications, received 3,710 applications (second highest after the 3,900 received in 1994) for its 120 openings. "These men and women bring to Hopkins a remarkably diverse mix of experiences," said admissions director Dave Trabilsy. "There are high school class valedictorians, student body presidents, athletes and many students who already have been involved in serious undergraduate research." Of the 120 medical students, 45 percent are women, 55 percent men. Thirteen have enrolled in the dual M.D./Ph.D. program. They will arrive from 34 states, three countries and 63 different colleges and universities, including 13 from Hopkins. "Hopkins undergraduates do not have an inherent advantage getting into the medical school," Trabilsy said. "There are no preferences given to any group within the application pool. That said, however, Hopkins students do have a leg up because the undergraduate program is one of the country s premiere pre-med schools. This year, the university is represented more than any other college." School of Hygiene and Public Health ---------------------------------------- The Master of Public Health program at the School of Hygiene and Public Health welcomes 150 students from all over the world to its class of 1995-96. This class joins 143 master s and 100 doctoral students who are continuing their studies this year. "Our applicants represent 75 countries as far reaching as Mongolia, Tibet, Slovenia and New Zealand," said Sandra Coleman, assistant dean for student services. "Our most culturally diverse departments are those of Health Policy and Management and International Health." Coleman noted that this year's incoming class averaged in the 600 range on the GRE exam. School of Nursing ----------------------------- The School of Nursing welcomes 170 new undergraduates, including 80 students enrolled in the accelerated program who began their studies in June. Seventy students representing various clinical, administrative and research backgrounds will also enter in September to pursue graduate study. "More than 17 returned Peace Corps volunteers are also part of the new group of entering students," said the school's director of admissions Mary Herlihy. "These students are eligible to participate in the Peace Corps Fellows/AmeriCorps Health and Housing Program at the School of Nursing, which offers a unique opportunity to provide nursing education to returned Peace Corps volunteers while meeting the needs of underserved and homeless families in Baltimore City," she said. Peabody Conservatory of Music --------------------------------- In contrast to last year, when the goal at Peabody was to have a smaller than average entering class, projections this year, according to admissions director David Lane, mandated a large entering class with emphasis on undergraduates. "We were successful in meeting this goal, with an entering group of 291, which is up from last year's 235," Lane said. "This is higher than any year in recent history." The number of entering undergraduates rose 38 percent, from 74 to 102. Lane said that 36 percent of the class arrives from outside the United States, with students enrolled from 22 countries, which, he said, is about standard for Peabody. "We are very pleased by the high level of talent of the entering students, which we measure by the faculty at the auditions," he said, "and the distribution of incoming students across majors is appropriate for us." Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies ------------------------------------- SAIS expects an entering master s degree class of 124 in Washington with an additional 63 students entering the Bologna Center. At the Washington campus, 25 percent of the entering class comes from outside the United States, representing Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, Canada and the Middle East. Members of the incoming class represent 22 international and 90 U.S. colleges and universities. The average age of the incoming class at SAIS is nearly 26, and 82 percent of the 84 men and 102 women have full-time work experience in fields, including government, education, law, research, the military, journalism and the Peace Corps. School of Continuing Studies ------------------------------------- Although the School of Continuing Studies enrolls students for several more weeks, it has, at press time enrolled 4,000 students for the fall semester. Sixty percent of them were admitted to the Division of Business and Management, 30 percent to the Division of Education, and 10 percent to the Division of Liberal Arts. The students are divided among all five Continuing Studies campuses: 25 percent are studying at Homewood, 30 percent are at the Columbia Center, 10 percent study at the Dowtown Center, another 25 percent are at the Montgomery Center and 10 percent will take classes at the Washington Center.