May 24, 2021

Olin Admission and Financial Aid is pleased to welcome the 92 students of the Class of 2025.

While slightly higher than the College’s goal of 86 first year students arriving for Orientation in August, this is a significant cause for celebration after over a year of unusual challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, including the move to a virtual Candidates’ Week, as well as the first season of test optional admission policies.

“I am beyond excited about this incredible class,” said Emily Roper-Doten, dean of admission and financial aid. “All of these amazing people have been impacted by the pandemic in different ways, just as we all have, with the added challenge of applying to college at the same time. We have a number of students who did their best to find ways to contribute to the world through making PPE, developing apps to assist in telehealth, creating virtual reading programs for young children, and more. I can’t wait to see how they contribute to our community and our world as Olin students.”

The Olin Admission and Financial Aid team has made significant efforts in recent years to reach an economically and racially diverse set of students. This incoming class is:

• 53 percent female by sex assigned at birth
• 49 percent students of color who are US citizens and permanent residents
• 15 percent domestic students of color who are historically underrepresented in engineering, including Black, Hispanic, Native American and Pacific Islander
• 5 percent international
• 6.5 percent first generation college students 
• 13 percent Pell recipients

In addition to the U.S., the Class of 2025 will represent five home countries: Japan (2), China, Germany, India and Vietnam. Students hailing from the U.S. will travel to Olin from 25 home states. For the first time in recorded memory, the incoming class will have more students from Massachusetts (19) than from California (18). Other states with the highest representation are NY and TX (7 each), CT and NJ (4 each).

The admission process at Olin begins with a holistic review of an applicant as a complete person: their academic preparation and potential, how they spend their time and who they are in their community. But academics and extracurricular activities are just part of what the Olin Admission and Financial Aid office considers as it carefully evaluates each candidate’s application. Personal essays, recommendations and a demonstrated desire to improve the world through engineering are other important pieces of an Olin application.

After applications are reviewed, a number of prospective students are then invited to participate in Olin’s Candidates’ Weekends. Normally a two-day, in-person event on campus, the 2021 Candidates’ Weekends shifted to a virtual Candidates’ Week to meet the challenges presented by COVID-19.

During Olin’s Candidates' Week, 264 Candidates participated in and experienced an incredible range of programming, thanks to 57 faculty and staff and nearly 150 student volunteers.

Candidates had the opportunity to participate virtually in many signature Candidates’ Weekends programs such as the Design Challenge—created by the CW co-curricular participants, Academic Chats and the Story Slam as well new events created especially for the new format. All Candidates participated in redesigned evaluative interviews to inform the final admission decisions.