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Generation 2020: A by-the-Numbers Look at the New Eagles

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A photo of an African-American female student who is a member of AU's class of 2020.  She is touching the talons of the eagle statue for good luck.
The AU class of 2020, by the numbers.

Fast Facts About Students

An all-time low of 25.7 percent of student applicants were admitted to American University’s Class of 2020.

Nearly 40 percent of incoming freshmen were accepted early decision.

Students hail from 48 states.

The leading states represented, in order: New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, California, Massachusetts, Maryland, Florida, Connecticut, Virginia, and Texas.

While 40.4 percent come from the Mid-Atlantic, and 15.3 percent are from New England, AU’s reach extends all over the country. Now 14.5 percent of freshmen are from the South, 13.3 percent hail from the West, and 8.6 percent arrived from the Midwest.

Of all incoming freshmen, 32.4 percent are minorities. Fifteen percent are Hispanic, 8.6 percent are black/African-American, and 7.4 percent are Asian.

Nearly four percent of freshmen are international students, and 9.5 percent are the first generation in their family to attend college.

The gender breakdown is 64.2 percent female and 35.8 percent male.

The average high school GPA was 3.67 and the average SAT score was 1245.

(Note: These numbers are based on when incoming students made their deposits.)

Cultural Connections: 1998 and 2016

The typical American University freshman was born in 1998. Here’s a look at what has—or hasn’t exactly—changed since that time. You’ve got a new cast of characters, but some surprising visits from a few old friends. Plenty of our cultural symbols have roots in the late 1990s.

Then: Bill Clinton was POTUS. It was his toughest year in office, as he was impeached in December.

Now: Hillary Clinton is running for president.

Then: Donald Trump met his future wife, Melania Knauss.

Now: Donald Trump is running for president.

Then: Tim Kaine was elected mayor of Richmond, Va.

Now: Kaine is Hillary Clinton’s running mate.

Then: Vladimir Putin rose to national prominence in Russia as a member of then-president Boris Yeltsin's administration.

Now: Putin is again the president of Russia, having held the office from 1999 to 2008 before being re-elected in 2012.

Then: The United Kingdom assumed the presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Now: The Brexit vote to leave the EU.

Then: Apple released the first iMac.

Now: The iMac is still around (though it looks very different), but now we also have iPhones, MacBooks, iPads, iPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, iTunes, and Apple Music.

Then: The U.S. brought an antitrust suit against Microsoft. The Justice Department later settled the case.

Now: Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is still the richest person in the world.

Then: The animated series Pokémon debuted in the United States.

Now: Pokémon Go lets everyone catch them all.

Then: First ever portable mp3 player was released.

Now: With smartphones and iPods, portable mp3 players have become ubiquitous.

Then: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was released in the UK.

Now: The boy who lived is back...but as a dad in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

Then: George R.R. Martin published A Clash of Kings, book two in his A Song of Ice and Fire epic fantasy series.

Now: HBO airs critically-acclaimed season six of Game of Thrones.

Then: About 76 million people tuned in to watch the Seinfeld series finale.

Now: A 2016 book, Seinfeldia, declares that a “show about nothing changed everything.”

Then: Destiny’s Child, featuring a teenage Beyoncé Knowles, released its debut album.

Now: In April, Beyoncé releases her celebrated visual album Lemonade, debuting at number one on the Billboard charts.

Then: At the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, the U.S. tied for fourth most gold medals of any country.

Now: At the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the U.S. captures the most gold medals of any country.

Then: Alex Rodriguez became the third player in baseball history to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases.

Now: A-Rod retires from the Yankees.

Then: The Denver Broncos won the Super Bowl, with John Elway as quarterback.

Now: The Denver Broncos win the Super Bowl, with John Elway as general manager.