By Cate Carrejo

Fordham Universiy Enrollment services released statistics to The Fordham Ram on the class of 2020. According to Associate Vice President of Undergraduate Enrollment John Buckley, the university admitted just under 44 percent of the record 44,697 applications, about a four-point drop from the class of 2019’s acceptance rate.

Students who applied regular decision were notified of their acceptances by April 1. Madison Shyer, FCRH ‘20, an incoming freshman from Houston, Texas, put down her deposit on Monday night, April 11.

“Fordham was one of the first acceptances I got,” she said. “It was a really rough four months or so getting the rest of the decisions in, but somehow I kept coming back to Fordham.” Now that her decision is made, she is focused on what is ahead for her in the fall.

“I am excited to spend the next four years at a beautiful and lively campus,” she said.
Shyer will be joined by students from across the country and around the world late in August. Admitted students this year come from all 50 states and over 100 countries, with over 2,100 prospective international students in the class of 2020. “[The admitted students] are exceptionally strong academically and very diverse,” said Buckley of the incoming freshman.

The academic profile of the class of 2020 is also improving over previous years. The mean high GPA is 3.75 on a four-point scale and the mean SAT score is 1,328 on the 1,600 scale, approximately a 1,992 on the previous 2,400-point scale. “Both selectivity and academic profile have improved nicely over the last five years and dramatically over the last 20 years,” said Buckley.

Fordham is currently ranked 66th on the U.S. News and World Report National Universities list, a 14 spot fall from the university’s best rank in 2013. As of the most recent ranking, the university is tied with Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah and the University of Pittsburgh. In 2015, Fordham’s acceptance rate fell between BYU and Pitt, but neither school has yet released data for the class of 2020.

The yield rate, the percentage of accepted students who end up attending the university, has not yet been released, but should be available soon. The preliminary rate should be available after May 1, the deadline for incoming freshman to put down deposits and claim spots for next fall. Buckley told Fordham News in February that the admissions department is currently aiming for a total of 2,135 students to enroll in the class of 2020.

With just under 20,000 acceptances mailed, that yield will be around nine percent, even lower than last year’s 11.5 percent yield. This statistic will likely push the university even further down on U.S. News’ ranking of yield rate among national universities, a sign of competitiveness among universities (top-ranked Harvard has a yield of over 80 percent).

The final spring Admitted Students Day is next Friday, April 22. Students still making their decision before the May 1 decision deadline will attend a day full of information sessions and activities before prospectively placing their deposits.

-Laura Sanicola contributed reporting.