Say hello to the McDaniel College Class of 2021

McDaniel College welcomed 452 new first year students — the class of 2021 and one of the largest in its 150-year history — to the Hill during move-in day Aug. 23.

These students, from a record-breaking applicant pool of 3,665 and admitted group of 2,392, traveled from 22 states and D.C. They hold passports from 18 countries, including Columbia, Cote d’Ivoire, France, Guyana, Mexico, Nepal, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

They are scholars, leaders, athletes and volunteers — and 36 percent are students of color. Among the class of 2021 are National Merit semi-finalists, AP scholars, National Honor Society members, and together they have taken 3,114 honors courses. They have the highest GPA of any entering class in the past 17 years with a 3.54 cumulative average — and have the distinction of including the third largest class at 52 students or 11 percent to enter the College’s Honors Program.

Among them are a tenor who performed at Canterbury Cathedral, a novelist, a descendant of Mayan royalty from 13 centuries ago, a conservationist working on the blue crab and oyster harvest, two sets of valedictorians and salutatorians, and a remarkable group of entrepreneurs. One student biked from Charleston to San Diego and another is the 22nd member of her family to attend the College.

McDaniel’s class of 2021 includes athletes — two-thirds played in high school and one-third will play intercollegiate sports in college — and volunteers with more than half doing significant community service during high school. They are leaders too with half serving as presidents and officers and nearly half held jobs after school doing everything from working at seafood restaurants, Hershey Park, the National Aquarium in Baltimore, assisted living facilities and selling fried dough at the state fair.