Fun Facts About SMU's Class of 2020

Fun facts about the Class of 2016, from where they come from to their broad range of talents.

Class of 2020 assembles for class photo

By Nancy George
SMU News

New students at SMU hail from across the United States and the world and bring talents ranging from art to robotics to entrepreneurship. Byron Lewis, dean of undergraduate admission and executive director of enrollment services ad interim, shared these facts about the incoming class August 21 at SMU's Convocation ceremony.
  • The demand for an SMU degree continues to rise as demonstrated by a record setting pool of 16,000 applications for first-year and transfer admission.
  • On average, the class of 2020 has the highest academic profile ever of an entering class at SMU.
  • Students hail from 44 states, led by Texas, California, Florida, Connecticut, Georgia, and Missouri; and 23 countries led by China, Mexico, Australia, India, Saudi Arabia, the UK and France.
  • Students represent 853 different high schools and 99 different colleges and universities worldwide. 
  • Eighty-two entering students represent SMU as NCAA Division 1 athletes. 
  • Collectively, new students have taken 7,003 AP courses and 2,112 IB courses. 
  • For the second year in a row, SMU has defied national higher education trends by welcoming slightly more men than women in the first-year class – 51percent men and 49 percent women.
  • The age range for the entering class is from16 to 45.
  • 387 students are continuing the Mustang tradition in their families as legacy students.
  • Classmates include Girls and Boys Staters, student body presidents, Eagle Scouts, Girl Scout Gold Award winners, yearbook editors, drum majors, sports captains, three-sport athletes, founders, innovators, entrepreneurs and some of the most talented visual and performing artists in the world. 
  • Six new Mustangs have served the cause of freedom and their country across the globe as members of the U.S. military.

And students’ individual stories are phenomenal:

  • Thomas did medical mission trips to Haiti,
  • Ryan studied in Brussels
  • Aarthi interned at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
  • Chengrui competed in Los Angeles at the World VEX Robotics Championship
  • Dylan was crowned Miss DC Teen USA
  • Kaleigh toured China while playing the French horn in the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra
  • Matea and Jonathan (incoming Mustang swimmers) just competed in the Rio Olympics
  • Tanner studied in Paris during his junior year in high school
  • Grace is a world champion rock climber who has competed all around the world
  • Alicia did a language immersion program in Seville, Spain during her sophomore year
  • Allyson created the CraftyAllyson YouTube channel with more than 19,000 subscribers
  • Thomas is a state champion diver
  • Adam did research at the Central Caribbean Marine Institute on Little Cayman
  • Tannah was president of the human rights forum at her school
  • Hunter founded Kids4Kids, a nonprofit organization that has raised more than $70,000 for scholarships for students who have overcome childhood cancer.

"For these students, a world of opportunities at SMU awaits," Lewis says.