SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford Admission staff found something distinctive in each member of the Class of 2024.
“Each year we strive to enroll a class that is academically competitive, comprised of students who are leaders in their communities and can bring varying perspectives to our campus community,” says Megan Tyler ’14, director of admission. “Our selection process is incredibly thorough, and we identified something special in each of our incoming students.”
One student is fluent in three languages; another established her own jewelry line and recruited 65 ambassadors to help her sell her product. Four students were awarded Athlete of the Year honors. One member of the class is a National Horatio Alger Association Scholar, and another was blessed by Pope Francis on New Year’s Day. A student started a podcast, another won a state cooking competition and yet another presented summer research on the gut microbiome of zebrafish.
For all of their differences, however, the Class of 2024 has something in common — graduating from high school during COVID-19.
“Our incoming class has faced adversity in ways few other incoming cohorts have thus far. In response to the pandemic, they have developed skills that can only be refined in difficult times. They have embraced this challenge with remarkable resilience, displaying what we already knew they possessed — the hearts of Terriers,” says Tyler. They navigated remote learning, wore masks while filling essential roles and found ways to improve themselves while staying home. The college’s admission staff reached out to check on accepted students during the spring and summer. During those conversations, the students shared their quarantine activities: one became a sales manager, several ran half marathons while others learned to make face masks; one student made several hundred.
The Class of 2024 also holds the distinction of being Wofford’s largest ever incoming class. The college received a record 4,110 applications, including a record number of early decision applications. Selectivity was at an all-time low of 53%.
Class of 2024 snapshot:
21 transfer students
497 first-year students
261 Female
236 Male
95 Non-white
281 out-of-state
216 In-state
67 First-generation college students
88 Pell-eligible
141 Legacy connections
95 Student-athletes (57 signed and 38 walk-on)
24 Gold Awards/Eagle Scouts
61 Club presidents
164 Team captains
33 Editors
51 Student government leaders, including 9 student body presidents
4 Valedictorians; 10 salutatorians