The Brodys greet arriving families. Photo by Will Kirk / HIPS

The 2007-2008 academic year begins as 1,211 freshmen arrive on the Homewood campus

Johns Hopkins certainly has its share of movers and shakers. On move-in days, the university also has a bevy of greeters, walkers and unloaders.

The Class of 2011 descended upon Homewood campus on Friday and Saturday to check into student housing and begin their academic journeys.

A regiment of upperclass volunteers awaited the seemingly never-ending parade of student-carrying SUVs, minivans and cars, which began to file through the university's north gate on Friday as early as 9 a.m., an hour ahead of the official move-in time.

Cheerful students stopped the vehicles to welcome the passengers to Johns Hopkins and engage in some friendly small talk. "Where are you from?" "How was the drive?" "Got quite a carload there, huh?"

Volunteers known as "walkers" then escorted the incoming 1,211 freshmen to locations where they would pick up residence keys, J-cards and everything else that would make them official Hopkins students.

Meanwhile, parents and guardians drove to assigned points near the undergraduate residence halls, where other groups of volunteers would feverishly unload the students' luggage and belongings in a matter of minutes — or seconds, in fact, for those traveling light.

President Brody and his wife, Wendy, rode folding bikes this year to meet and greet parents and students.

One set of parents, Alan Sanders and Denise Burn, took in the scene with a touch of envy as they stepped out of their car to let the volunteers unload their daughter Catherine's possessions.

"I wish we were going to school, too," said Catherine Sanders, who had made the trip from Chicago. "This is exciting."

Their vehicle emptied, the couple quickly moved out of their spot. A line of cars had now formed behind them, and the finely tuned operation proceeded on its merry way.

 

The Class of 2011, By the Numbers

Cars head to the student drop-off spot. Photo by

By Amy Lunday
Homewood

While the 1,211 freshmen settled in, parents were treated to refreshments and had a chance to meet faculty, staff and students, as well as their fellow freshmen's parents.

The parents had a lot to crow about over coffee and doughnuts: The class of 2011 was chosen from a record-breaking pool of 14,851 applicants, an increase of 7 percent over the total for 2006 and 30 percent over that of 2005. Only 24 percent of this year's applicants were admitted, down from 35 percent two years ago; by contrast, in 1998, 8,540 students applied and 42 percent were admitted. The numbers show that the university has simultaneously become more popular and more selective over the course of the past decade.

Some facts and figures about the class:

Total freshman enrollment: 1,211

Number of freshman applicants: 14,851

Number of freshmen admitted: 3,601

Early decision: 443

Baltimore Scholars: 20

Male: 52 percent

Female: 48 percent

International students: 78

Underrepresented minority students: 172

Krieger School of Arts and Sciences: 64 percent

Whiting School of Engineering: 36 percent

Top five states, in order: New York, New Jersey, Maryland, California, Pennsylvania

Median SAT I combined score: 1390

Median high school class rank: 96th percentile

Freshman Jamie Edwards Photo by Will Kirk / HIPS

Alan Sanders hoists daughter Catherine's possessions. Photo by Will Kirk / HIPS

Emma Utz, center, greets freshmen Yasmine Elamirand Clayton Rische. Photo by Will Kirk / HIPS

Camilla Rohrmann points the way. Photo by Will Kirk / HIPS

Room check: Carolyn Berger, right, and her mother Photo by Will Kirk / HIPS

A volunteer walker leads a group of freshmen to the check-in point. Photo by Will Kirk / HIPS

Volunteers lend a hand. Photo by Will Kirk / HIPS

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