A closer look at the class of 2029
Mount Holyoke College’s class of 2029 has arrived on campus — here’s what the numbers say about these green griffins.
The class of 2029, Mount Holyoke College’s latest cohort of green griffins, has arrived on campus, ready to challenge conventions and make connections.
“Welcome MoHome!” Marcella Runell, vice president of student life and dean of students, said to the incoming class at the Orientation welcome on Friday, Aug. 29. “Welcome to all of our superstar transfer students, our Frances Perkins scholars and our international exchange students as well. We want you to find your Mount Holyoke community, and we want you to find your home with us on campus. Welcome to our community. We are so glad you are here. We are in this together.”
The number of applications was high this year, with 4,621 people applying for spots in the class. The College admitted 1,776 of those applicants and 546 first-year students enrolled.
President Danielle R. Holley spoke at the Orientation welcome and shed more light on the remarkable incoming class.
“Look around this room,” she said to the students, their families and their supporters. “You will see people from every background, from every region in the United States, every region of the globe. You are all here together to join the Mount Holyoke community.”
She continued, “We know that students in the class of 2029 are bold and impactful. Among you are an amateur astronomer, a poetry club founder, a cancer researcher, a refugee center volunteer and a student who likes to stay centered by taking desert hikes. You are tutors, translators, musicians, roboticists and newspaper editors. You served in student government, you led student government and you are athletic standouts.”
Among the entire class, 28% are domestic students of color; 20% are “Fearless Firsts,” first-generation college students; and 26% qualify for Federal Pell Grants, aid for undergraduate students with exceptional financial need. MHC meets the full documented need of every admitted student who applies for aid.
The class of 2029 comes from across the nation and around the world. Despite fears of international students’ visas being delayed or denied, 25% of the class are international citizens or residents from 44 countries, including Australia, Brazil, Egypt, Germany, Ghana, India, Italy, Kenya, Nepal, Pakistan, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Uganda and Ukraine. The countries outside the U.S. with the highest numbers of entering students are China, Vietnam, Japan, Bangladesh and Canada.
Among the domestic students, 37 states are represented. Massachusetts has the highest percentage of students, followed by New York, Texas, Connecticut, California, Florida, Maine, New Jersey and Washington. MHC’s diverse student body ensures the community will have a robust, global perspective on everything from physics to politics to philosophy.
The average GPA of the class on a 4.0 scale is 3.88, and 73% of the students were ranked in the top 20% in their secondary schools, with 49% of them being in the top 10%. The mean composite SAT score for this class was 1416, and the ACT composite mean was 31. 36% of the class of 2029 submitted their SAT or ACT scores.
“You are joining a 188-year legacy in the making,” President Holley told the class. “Mount Holyoke was founded on the principle that a student's gender should not determine the scope or the quality of their education. And in 1837, that was radical, and we continue in our radical thinking around gender, around academic excellence and around research and experimentation. Here at Mount Holyoke, we are too bold for boundaries.”
