Acceptance rates for the class of 2020 at both Scripps College and Harvey Mudd College decreased with respect to last year. Scripps’ overall 2016 acceptance rate was close to 25 percent, compared to a 26.3 percent acceptance rate in 2015. The Scripps Admissions Office also reported a 14 percent rise in applications for this year. Harvey Mudd College’s overall acceptance rate for this year was 11.9 percent, compared to 12.4 percent last year.
The increased competitiveness was also evident in early decision acceptance rates, which fell from 17.7 percent last year to 16.6 percent this year for Harvey Mudd. Scripps had 236 early decision applicants, out of which 113 have enrolled for the upcoming year.
International students continue to form a considerable portion of the student body, although their acceptance rates fell as well. At Harvey Mudd, the percentage of admitted international students dropped by 1.6 percent from last year. The international incoming first-years represent 19 different nationalities, but the majority of international students are from China, India and Singapore. Scripps had a 12.3 percent acceptance rate for international students, who will come from many countries, including India, China, Canada, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, and South Korea.
Thyra Briggs, vice president of admissions and financial aid at Harvey Mudd, remarked that the incoming class has a balanced mix of majors, so the admission rates per major are around the same as rates from previous years.
“Students have been fairly consistent in majoring in the areas of interest they mention,” she wrote in an email to TSL.
Scripps does not accept students based on their majors, but the admissions office claims to have received a very talented pool of applicants. Scripps continued to use Slate, a data system introduced in the college in 2015, which allows for applications to be read online.
Victoria Romero, vice president for enrollment at Scripps College, wrote in an email to TSL that Slate has made the admission process a lot more convenient for the staff.
“It provides the flexibility to read anywhere and the ability to have everything at my fingertips,” Romero wrote. “My favorite part of reading online is the mobility and being able to choose my reading locations and don’t have to worry about a physical file.”
Briggs and Romero both wrote that reading the applications and getting to know prospective students are some of the best parts of the entire admission process.
“It’s exciting for us to see how students choose to present themselves when they have a limited amount of space to do so,” Briggs wrote. “Imagining who they will be as an HMC student and what they will bring to our community is also exciting for us. Watching students connect on Admitted Students Day or Opening Day and knowing how much they have in common (or don’t!) is also amazing to see.”
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