<p>Enrollment is always notoriously difficult to predict or control under the best of circumstances, and in the current economic climate, admissions officers have been hard-pressed to come anywhere near their enrollment targets. This year Oberlin exceeded all its enrollment targets, so while many of our “competitors” had to go deep into their waitlists, we did not have to use ours, and given minimal summer “melt,” I understand that we are now right at our enrollment target. Since I’m neither an administrator not an admissions officer, I don’t know the current projected fall 2009 enrollment–the number is not usually released until October, after students have actually enrolled. Here are the undergraduate enrollments from the last few years:
2005: 2845
2006: 2829
2007: 2762
2008: 2839
As you’ll see, there is unpredictable fluctuation from year to year, and last year it did unexpectedly spike up. I don’t know how this year will compare.</p>
<p>Who knows how to account for Oberlin’s popularity? I do know that the schools who had to go deep into their waitlists have been asking themselves the same question. Oberlin is one of the top schools in the country, and we’re obviously doing a lot right to get the word out. But what makes one school “hot” at any particular moment remains pretty mysterious to me.</p>