Today at 3 pm, officers from Undergraduate Admissions and Financial Aid gathered on College Walk to send Class of 2018 Regular Decision letters. This year, a total of 32,967 students applied—the third largest pool in Columbia’s history, though 1.5 percent fewer than last year’s. About 10 percent of them (3,298 students) applied early. Columbia admitted 2,291 applicants to CC and SEAS this year for an admit rate of 6.94 percent, slightly higher than last year’s rate of 6.89 percent. And two years back, the Class of 2016 admitted 7.4 percent, a considerable increase from the previous year’s low 6.9 percent.

Here are some photos of the festivities—check below for a statement from Jessica Marinaccio and a video of the Admissions singing “Roar, Lion, Roar.” Welcome, Class of 2018! We can’t wait to have you on campus.

admission-pano-2018-rd

The obligatory group panorama, now with 50% more PrezBo’s Audi.

Per tradition, they also sang the Fight Song. Cute!

For the Class of 2018, this application process has been a roller coaster of emotions and “challenges” with the Common App that eventually led to a deadline extension. The journey ends at 5 PM EST today, when applicants will be able to use this Admissions website to check their decisions. To the Class of 2018: welcome to Columbia!

Update: Jessica Marinaccio, Dean of Undergraduate Admissions and Financial Aid, released the statement below commenting on the admitted students:

Today we have the privilege of releasing acceptances to an exceptional group of students who have been chosen from one of the largest applicant pools in Columbia’s history. They represent all 50 states, Washington, DC, and the US territories, as well as nearly 80 countries from around the world. Even more notable than this geographic diversity is the remarkable range of talents, ambitions, passions and perspectives that these individuals have shared with us in their applications, and that we hope they will share with our entire community in the fall. Over the next few weeks, students, alumni, faculty and administrators will join us in congratulating these students on their admission and welcoming them to the Columbia community. We are confident that the students who choose to join the Class of 2018 will continue the tradition of excellence and engagement that have been defining hallmarks of Columbians since 1754.