It is often remarked at Boston College that as the University enjoys its rise in national rankings, each incoming class seems to hold even more promise than the last.
"By standardized testing measurements, the class of 2013 is the strongest ever to enroll at Boston College," John Mahoney, director of undergraduate admissions, said. "The middle 50 percent range of SAT scores were 1920-2130." This is a sign that BC continues to attract academically empowered students.
The slogan for the Class of 2013 is "Honoring the Legacy, Pursuing Greatness."
"I think the phrase captures my experience because I am honoring my father's legacy by attending BC since he graduated here in 1979," Victor Churchill, A&S '13, said.
Kristyn Fields, A&S'13, had similar sentiments. "My mom also went to BC and I think what I will honor the most is the feeling of pride she has whenever she talks about her BC experience," she said.
The sesquicentennial class continues the geographic diversity of BC with representation from 47 states, Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, and 33 foreign countries. Massachusetts is the most represented state in the class, followed by New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. In fifth place, with 135 students in the class, is California, "a sign of Boston College's visibility and strength on the west coast," Mahoney said.
When asked about the geographic diversity within his class, Churchill said that he believes people chose to attend BC because they know that "BC has a community feeling, a sense that no matter where you come from, you can find friends." Churchill said that he believes that he has had great interactions with his peers and said that "Freshman Welcome Week events made [him] feel part of BC."
Among the incoming freshman class are 600 AHANA students who make up 26 percent of the freshman class, a sign of BC's commitment to creating an ethnically diverse community. "I think it is great that there are that many AHANA students in my class, but I wish there were more," Kelly Love Le, CSOM '13, said. "Also, I wish there were more integration within the different AHANA groups on campus." Kevin Lee said, "I like the fact that AHANA students are increasing at BC; it's a representation that the U.S. is a melting pot and I hope BC will reflect that."
While BC received nearly 30,000 applications in 2009, the class of 2013 discontinued the increase of applications received by BC. Mahoney said the decline in applications this year is more a result of national demographics. "The slight decline in applications is likely a reflection that the nationwide pool of high school graduates has finally leveled off after nearly 20 years of growth," he said. "Also, our new restrictive early action program prohibits early decision candidates to other schools from applying early action to Boston College, so this reduced our pool of early action candidates."
BC received 29,300 applications for the class of 2013 this year, the second highest in the history of BC. Approximately 8,805 out of those were granted admission to BC. "It's impressive to be selected among so few; it makes me feel good about myself," Nick Chappelear, A&S '13, said.
The class of 2013 is different from previous classes in their need for financial assistance from BC. "The downturn in the economy produced a 25 percent increase in the number of freshmen who received financial aid this year," Mahoney said. BC expected this increase and made preparation to respond to this need. "Boston College's commitment to meet the full demonstrated need of all admitted students remained intact due to Fr. Leahy's decision to cut administrative budgets by 2 percent in order to increase the University's financial aid budget," Mahoney said.
As much attention has been awarded to this historic class, BC freshmen have a fresh sense of pride in their school. "I like that we are the newest class because we have a new approach to education that I hope will contribute to the BC community," Kimvi Diep, A&S '13, said. "I feel special that I get to be part of the BC community and the 150th class."
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