Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College et al
Filing
454
DECLARATION of Michael Connolly in Support of SFFA's Opposition to Harvard's Motion for Summary Judgment by Students for Fair Admissions, Inc.. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit 262, # 2 Exhibit 263, # 3 Exhibit 264, # 4 Exhibit 265, # 5 Exhibit 266, # 6 Exhibit 267, # 7 Exhibit 268, # 8 Exhibit 269, # 9 Exhibit 270, # 10 Exhibit 271, # 11 Exhibit 272, # 12 Exhibit 273, # 13 Exhibit 274, # 14 Exhibit 275, # 15 Exhibit 276, # 16 Exhibit 277, # 17 Exhibit 278, # 18 Exhibit 279, # 19 Exhibit 280, # 20 Exhibit 281, # 21 Exhibit 282, # 22 Exhibit 283, # 23 Exhibit 284, # 24 Exhibit 285)(Consovoy, William) (Additional attachment(s) added on 7/31/2018: # 25 Unredacted DECLARATION of Michael Connolly in Support of SFFA's Opposition to Harvard's Motion for Summary Judgment (Filed Under Seal), # 26 Exhibit 262 (Filed Under Seal), # 27 Exhibit 263 (Filed Under Seal), # 28 Exhibit 264 (Filed Under Seal), # 29 Exhibit 265 (Filed Under Seal), # 30 Exhibit 266 (Filed Under Seal), # 31 Exhibit 267 (Filed Under Seal), # 32 Exhibit 268 (Filed Under Seal), # 33 Exhibit 269 (Filed Under Seal), # 34 Exhibit 270 (Filed Under Seal), # 35 Exhibit 271 (Filed Under Seal), # 36 Exhibit 272 (Filed Under Seal), # 37 Exhibit 273 (Filed Under Seal), # 38 Exhibit 274 (Filed Under Seal), # 39 Exhibit 275 (Filed Under Seal), # 40 Exhibit 276 (Filed Under Seal), # 41 Exhibit 277 (Filed Under Seal), # 42 Exhibit 278 (Filed Under Seal), # 43 Exhibit 279 (Filed Under Seal), # 44 Exhibit 280 (Filed Under Seal), # 45 Exhibit 281 (Filed Under Seal), # 46 Exhibit 282 (Filed Under Seal), # 47 Exhibit 283 (Filed Under Seal), # 48 Exhibit 284 (Filed Under Seal), # 49 Exhibit 285 (Filed Under Seal)) (McDonagh, Christina).
EXHIBIT 272
Harvard College admits
2,056 to Class of ’21
Harvard Admissions received a record 39,506 applications in January, admitting 2,056 to the Harvard College Class of 2021.
File photo by Kris Snibbe/Harvard Staff Photographer
n January, thousands of prospective freshmen submitted
applications in hopes of being accepted to Harvard College.
Their long wait is finally over, as 2,056 of these students were
invited today to join the Class of 2021.
“When I found out I was accepted to Harvard, it didn’t feel real,”
recalled Toluwalase Oladitan, a current freshman, who was with a
few of her best friends when she got the news last year. “When I
opened my email and logged into my portal, I was stunned and
was not prepared. It was just an overwhelming feeling of joy that I
really can’t explain.”
With a record number of applications, 39,506, the admitted class
saw increases in the percentages of African-American and AsianAmerican students, as well as first-generation students and
students from low- and moderate-income families, though it is
statistically similar to the Class of 2020. Women constitute 49.2
percent of newly admitted students. Asian-American students
make up 22.2 percent, African-Americans 14.6 percent, Latinos
11.6 percent, Native Americans 1.9 percent, and Native Hawaiians
0.5 percent. First-generation students constitute 15.1 percent of
those admitted.
“Since launching the Harvard Financial Aid Initiative in 2005,
Harvard has been able to attract ever-increasing numbers of
outstanding students from a much wider range of backgrounds
than in the past. During this time, the applicant pool has doubled
in size,” said William R. Fitzsimmons, dean of admissions and
financial aid. “The different life experiences of our students add
immeasurably to the academic and extracurricular life of the
College.”
The majority of Harvard students receive need-based aid, and the
average family contribution for those receiving aid is $12,000.
Families with incomes up to $150,000 and typical assets pay 10
percent or less of their annual incomes.
“One in five Harvard families have annual incomes under $65,000
and pay nothing toward the cost of their student’s education,” said
Sally C. Donahue, Griffin Director of Financial Aid. “Their
students also now have the benefit of a $2,000 start-up grant that
helps with move-in expenses and their transition to College, as
well as their ability to access academic and extracurricular life in
the same manner as all other undergraduates.”
“Reaching out to promising students makes a crucial difference in
attracting strong applicants to apply and matriculate,” said Anne
M. De Luca, associate dean for admissions and financial aid
recruitment. “Each year we visit 150 locations in the United States
and travel to additional cities around the world. Most visits
include evening information sessions for students and their
families, as well as high school guidance counselor breakfasts.”
Oladitan remembers meeting a Harvard admissions officer at a
college fair at her high school, Brooklyn Technical High School, in
New York City. “I saw an opportunity to ask questions about the
application process and Harvard in general that I wouldn’t easily
be able to get from a website,” she said.
For the admitted Class of 2021, 21.4 percent come from the midAtlantic, 18.7 percent from the South, 16.5 percent from New
England, 15.7 percent from the Pacific, 15 percent from the
Midwest, Central, and Mountain states, and 0.3 percent from
American territories. International students constitute 11.4
percent of the admitted students.
As for intended academic concentrations, 26.5 percent indicated
an interest in social sciences, 19.3 percent in computer science and
engineering, 19.2 percent in the biological sciences, 15.5 percent in
the humanities, 7.2 percent in mathematics, 6.9 percent in the
physical sciences, and 5.4 percent were undecided.
Members of the teaching faculty spend many hours talking with
prospective students and reading applications. “Faculty evaluate
research and portfolios across all disciplines — going far beyond
test scores and grades in their careful evaluations,” said Marlyn E.
McGrath, director of admissions. “Many of them will be reaching
out to students over the next few weeks, and they will also play a
major role in our visiting program for admitted students.”
That program, Visitas, is scheduled for April 22-24. Oladitan
recalled engaging with many faculty members through tours and
information sessions during her own trip to Cambridge for Visitas.
“I actually remember taking a tour of Northwest Labs with
Professor Andrew Berry in life sciences,” she said. “I remember
him telling me and my friend about the cool lab work being done
at Harvard.”
Oladitan didn’t think about the encounter often afterward until
this spring, when Berry showed up in her Life Science 1b class. “To
my surprise, he was the guest lecturer there to teach us about
evolution and speciation, and I was just taken aback that things
sort of came back full circle. Professor Berry had a part in my
choosing to come to Harvard, and seeing him again in lecture just
made me feel like I made the right choice all over again.”
Current Harvard students also play a vital role in undergraduate
recruitment. As members of critically important student groups,
including the Undergraduate Minority Recruitment Program
(UMRP), the Harvard First-Generation Program, and the Financial
Aid Initiative, these students make phone calls, send emails,
conduct tours, and host admitted students.
“I was contacted by students of the UMPR,” said Oladitan. “I didn’t
know what it was at the time, but I just felt special and already
welcomed into the Harvard community. And in the application
process, I was able to email and ask questions about student life at
Harvard that catered to my interests. And that’s why I appreciate
the UMRP a lot for what they did and still continue to do for
prospective students who look like me.”
Oladitan herself now volunteers as a student recruiter with the
UMRP. “I want to be the face to seniors and younger students who
I saw when I was applying,” she said. “Interacting with the UMRP
made me feel more comfortable and confident, and that’s what I
want to give to other prospective students who are in my shoes.”
Admitted students have until May 1 to accept their offers of
admission.