With less than a month to go until the first day of classes, the University community has started to take note of what appears to be the largest, most diverse and most qualified group to live on Grounds -- the Class of 2011.
Living large
The University is preparing for a class currently numbering 3,288. This exceeds the target class size of 3,170, which was already an increase of 70 students from last year's target, according to Dean of Admissions John Blackburn.
"The classes continue to grow," Blackburn said. "This class came out of a much larger applicant pool, we were up 12 percent."
The University's larger applicant pool follows a national trend, experienced by colleges around the country, Blackburn added.
"More students applied to [more schools than in previous years to] make sure they had some choices," Blackburn said. "We had to be more selective; students didn't get in that would have ... in earlier years."
Getting to know the personalities and traits of the students while at the same time creating a cohesive class is the goal of every year's admissions process, Blackburn said.
"We tell our deans to look for students who will truly add something," Blackburn said. "It's not a mechanical process."
It also is not a process that stops with acceptance letters in the spring but rather one that continues up until September, he explained.
With the larger-than-projected size of the class, the Admissions Office is continuing to check and recheck the status of accepted students. This includes looking at their participation in orientation and the payment of their housing deposit, Blackburn explained.
Often, this period, known as the "Summer Melt," is the time when University officials become aware of students who for whatever reason decide not to attend, Blackburn said.
"August is a heavy month," Blackburn said. "My hunch is that we'll be 30 to 40 under our goal."
The housing crunch
Even with the potential for a decrease in numbers, the University still face an increased demand for first-year housing.
According to John Evans, director of accommodations for the Housing Division, two of the five residence halls in the Hereford College residential area, Malone and Weedon, will be considered part of the Alderman Road complex.
Moreover, Evans explained, there will also be first-year students living in Wyburn House, which will still be considered part of Hereford College.
"The original idea was to have 50 students at Hereford College [in Wyburn] and instead we have 90," Evans said. "In the Hereford complex together between Malone, Weedon and the [Hereford] College there will be approximately 300 first years out of the 500 [students] up there."
There will also be about 30 triple rooms for female studentsin the Alderman Road area, Evans said.
According to George Stovall, director of institutional assessment and studies, the percentage of women entering with the Class of 2011 is about 57 percent, which is consistent with last year's number.
What's in a class?
While issues of size seem to be defining characteristics for the Class of 2011, they are not the only ones -- diversity and talent are also key elements of the new first-year class.
Corley Hopkins, fourth-year College student and summer orientation leader, noted the diversity that is present in the incoming class.
"You could tell that the University is on its way up and every year is getting better and better," she said. "It's a very diverse class which is cool."
The projected numbers for the new class reflect this trend, Stovall said.
"The number of minority students is going to be higher than last year's," Stovall said. "Right now it certainly looks like we'll have about a three percent increase in the percentage of all minority students."
Specifically, the number of African-American students in the class is projected to jump from 7.7 percent to about 11 percent, Stovall said.
According to Blackburn, the number of Hispanic students will rise from four to five percent, while Asian-American students will make up about 12 percent of the incoming class.
The University has also increased its number of international students; however, that number is prone to change, Blackburn said.
Another aspect of diversity the Admissions Office has been focusing on is attracting "lower-income students," Blackburn said.
The Admissions Office has spent more time talking to parents and holding meetings in traditionally lower-income areas such as Southwestern Virginia, Blackburn explained.
In terms of region, two-thirds of the class continues to come from in state, with nearly half of them coming from Northern Virginia, Blackburn said.
A large portion of out-of-state students come from the Northeast, with states like New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Pennsylvania each sending about 100 students, Blackburn said.
With the increased selectivity due to the size of the application pool, the level of academic achievement and breadth of interests for the first-year students is more competitive than in previous years, Blackburn explained.
In addition to strong academic backgrounds, community service is very important to this class, Blackburn said. He added that many chose to write about their service experiences in their admission essays.
He explained that several public and independent schools are beginning to require community service for graduation.
"For some people who haven't been exposed to people who need their help, [community service] starts good habits that they carry on [to places] like Madison House," he said.
Environmental concerns as well as political and legal interests also appeared repeatedly in incoming applications, Blackburn said.
More than half of the students who applied also played a musical instrument, Blackburn said. Others were involved in research outside of the classroom and planned on continuing such work on an undergraduate level, Blackburn added.
Though members of the incoming class were only on Grounds for a few days during summer orientation, these different attributes and skills have already made an impression, Hopkins explained.
"There are a lot of individuals that are excited about getting involved at U.Va.," Hopkins said. "They're excited about all that the University has to offer, the friendships they'll make and the lessons they'll learn."
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