IC News

Ithaca College has spent the waning weeks of summer gearing up for the return of students, and this weekend it will welcome over 1,655 members of the latest cohort to join the campus community: the Class of 2022.  

Who are the newest students to join the college? 

The members of the Class of 2022 graduated from 1,066 high schools, most of which — 79 percent — are public. Their mean high school GPA was 3.34. Seven high school valedictorians and an equal number of salutatorians are among the incoming class.  

While SAT or ACT scores aren’t required when applying to IC, many students submit them for consideration. The mean combined SAT score for the incoming class is 1263, while mean scores for verbal and math are 647 and 617, respectively.  

Merit-based aid was distributed to many members of the Class of 2022, including the 43 students who received a Leadership Scholarship for their demonstrated record of leadership and academic achievement. The college’s Martin Luther King Scholar Program welcomes 23 young scholars and social activists, while the Park Scholar Program welcomes nine from this year’s cohort, as well. 

Numbers are just that, though. What really matters are the passions and spirit of each incoming student. That’s what Rachel Powles of Utica, NY, noticed about IC when she first visited and fell in love with the college. 

“I finally felt like I belonged somewhere and people were going to be nice to me and make me feel at home,” she said. “I also felt like it was the only school where I wasn’t treated like a number and where they recognized my potential.” 

Her sense of belonging began on that first visit: “I met a group of theatre students right away and they were inviting and open and easy to get to know and seemed like they were interested in me, which made me feel like a part of something already,” she said. 

Nicole Eversley Bradwell, IC’s director of admission, is enthusiastic about welcoming the first-year students. “The entering class is a dynamic set of scholars, performers, athletes, and leaders,” she said. “I couldn’t be more thrilled with what we observed during the application and admission review process: We have entrepreneurs, students engaged in social justice work, and amazing stories of perseverance.” 

The Class of 2022 includes students who have started their own businesses, including a cookie-baker, a photographer, and the co-owner of a landscaping business. Others are committed to service: one student founded a summer camp for children; another volunteered at a wildlife sanctuary in India that rescues sloth bears and elephants; one was committed to prison reform legislation as a member of the New Jersey Youth and Government organization.   

They’re also talented: one member of the cohort is a two-time finalist in the All-American High School Film Festival; one has performed for Pope Francis and Barack Obama as part of the Young People’s Chorus of New York, while another has performed at Carnegie Hall; another is a successful YouTube creator with over 30,000 subscribers and an affiliated clothing brand.  

Ulani Salazar, an incoming writing major from Westchester County, NY, wants to put her accomplishments and skills to work right away. “I’ve already written an anthology but I’m hoping to work at the writing center here and help with editing and publishing,” she said.  

Members of the class of 2022 are ready to branch out and grow, as well. That includes Trisha Curtin, who will be entering as an anthropology major, and who would like to try out for a musical. “I’m not a lead vocalist or anything; I wouldn’t even mind dancing in the back or singing in an ensemble. It’s just something I have always wanted to experience,” she said.  

“I am also going into the Honors Program, so that will be a challenge as well, but I am excited to begin,” she added.

The class of 2022 hails from across the United States and around the world.  

New York State has the highest representation at 44 percent, while New Jersey (14 percent), Pennsylvania and Massachusetts (8 percent each), and Connecticut (5 percent) round out the top five states from which members of the freshman class come. The rest of New England (except for Maine), Maryland, Illinois and California round out the top 10 states that the Class of 2022 call home. 

Three students from Hawaii are also among the first-years.  

This year’s cohort is also composed of 55 international students and 52 U.S. citizens who live or attended high school outside the country. In total, 32 countries are represented: Argentina, Bhutan, Brazil, Canada, China, Columbia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Greece, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Mexico, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Portugal, Russia, Rwanda, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, Turks & Caicos, the United Kingdom, Vietnam and Zimbabwe. 

Fifty-six percent of the Class of 2022 identify as female, compared to the 43 percent who identify as male; 0.1 percent chose not to identify their gender. Students of color compose nearly 25 percent, a slight increase of 1 percent from the previous year. Students who classify themselves as white make up 71 percent of the incoming class. 

Many of the students will be the first in their families to go to college: 280 students identified themselves as first-generation college students. 

For most of the Class of 2022, their first days on campus mark the beginning of their IC memories. A good handful of others, though, are joining a legacy already established by their families: 65 first-year students have parents who are alumni, while 36 have a sibling who attended or still attends. Another 25 have at least one parent employed at the college.