Record-breaking freshman class set to start fall semester

 

Record-breaking freshman class to attend FSU this fall

On Aug. 23, 7,200 first-year students walked to classes for the first time — a record-breaking number for a record-breaking year.

Following a slightly smaller number of first-year students in fall of 2020, the jump to 7,200 was surprising, considering the consistency of the previous years, according to the Office of Institutional Research at Florida State University. 

With a 4.3 GPA, 1310 SAT and 29 ACT, the average statistics for 2021 were at the higher end of the spectrum compared to every other years’ statistics on incoming freshman. Based on these numbers, it was seemingly more difficult to get in for the Fall 2021 school year, and yet FSU received about 10,000 more applications than in 2020. 

With 66,000 applications to review, Hege Ferguson, the director of Admissions, released a statement ensuring it wasn’t an accident that an additional 3,000 to 4,000 students were accepted into FSU this year.

“We have spent months reviewing academic records, reading essays and learning about the interests of our applicants," Ferguson said. "We had to make some very difficult choices, but in the end, we feel confident in our decisions.”

Being that Florida State was once an all women's college, it comes as no shock that 60% of the first-year students enrolled for the fall term are women and 40% are men. This statistic stays relatively consistent throughout the years, with 58% of the admitted students being women and 42% being men in last years freshman class, for the fall 2020 semester. 

Record-breaking freshman class set to start fall semester

About 7,200 first-year students and a new president will be among the fresh faces on Florida State University’s campus as fall classes begin Monday, Aug. 23.

President Richard McCullough, who starts his second week as FSU’s 16th president Monday, is excited to join the largest freshman class in the university’s history and a record number of graduate students in becoming a part of the Florida State family.

“I’m thrilled to start my tenure at the beginning of a new academic year and to welcome a very impressive freshman class,” McCullough said. “This is not only the biggest freshman class but one of the brightest, and I can’t wait to see the contributions these students will make to our university community.”

More than 66,000 first-year students applied for admission to FSU for the summer and fall 2021 semesters. Of those first-year students who were accepted into the university for the summer and fall semesters:

• The average high school grade point average was 4.3 with an average 1310 total SAT score and ACT composite score of 29.
• The cohort includes students from 66 Florida counties and, all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and 49 countries. After Florida, the states with the most accepted freshmen are Georgia, New York, New Jersey, Illinois and Texas.
• Women make up 60 percent of the new freshman class, while 40 percent of the students are male.
• The top five majors selected are biological science, business, engineering, psychology and exploratory/undecided.

For the second consecutive year, FSU received more than 14,000 graduate school applications for the fall term — an 83 percent increase in applications since Fall 2017. This year’s graduate student cohort is expected to be FSU’s largest, exceeding last year’s record enrollment of nearly 9,700 graduate students.