Five hundred twenty admitted students have accepted spots in the Class of 2014 as of Thursday and Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Scott Meiklejohn said it is "unlikely" that the College will accept any students off the wait list this year.
As of Thursday, the College had enrolled 220 students through Early Decision I and II, and 300 students from the 951 students accepted from the pool of early decision deferrals and regular decision.
"Our yield on offers of admission was really strong," said Meiklejohn. "I'm going to be surprised if we do anything off the wait list."
The number of students accepted off the College's wait list varies from year to year, ranging from "around 10 to around 50" per year, according to Meiklejohn. While "last year was one of the 'around 50' years," this year will likely be on the opposite end of the spectrum.
According to Meiklejohn, the wait list is currently in the "high 500s," though this number will go down as wait lists at other schools begin to move.
This year showed a higher percentage of students who accepted places on the wait list than last year, Meiklejohn added.
Originally, the Office of Admissions hoped that responses to its offers would bring in approximately 470 to 480 students, so that it would be "in the position to make a few wait list offers" and work toward the 485 target, said Meiklejohn.
While the College is now in the opposite position of hoping to decrease its enrollment, Meiklejohn assured that "history says that a few dozen people each year" will unenroll, whether because they are accepted off the wait list at another school, choose to take a gap year, or simply decide not to attend.
"We know that the number is going to go down," said Meiklejohn. "The only question is what's going to be happening out there in the world of wait list activity."
Though Meiklejohn said that the Class of 2014 may exceed the 485 target by a handful of students, the final number will likely be comparable to the Class of 2013, which enrolled 494 students.
"My guess it that we won't get all the way down to 485," said Meiklejohn, but "it will get back down to a number that works for everybody."
While Meiklejohn said that waiting for the enrollment to go down is less controllable than taking students off the wait list, he is excited about the quality of the incoming class.
"The great news in this number is all these unbelievable students who have been offered a spot at Bowdoin who have chosen it over other fabulous options," he said.
In addition, Meiklejohn said that this year, the College has had success enrolling students who have been assigned the "top academic ratings" from a system used by Bowdoin's admissions staff.
"We love to admit those students and we love it when they choose Bowdoin, but often they don't," said Meiklejohn. But, "this year, our yield on those students is off the charts."