The kids are all right. More than all right, in fact.
The make-up of Loyola Marymount University’s class of 2013 shows the continued standard of excellence and breadth of diversity that LMU’s student body has become known for.
Average SAT scores for LMU freshmen reached their highest point ever. First-year students’ combined math and verbal scores averaged 1191—better than three-quarters of their peers around the country, and a three-point increase from last year’s score.
LMU’s first-year students are no strangers to the world outside California. Nearly one-third come from out-of-state, and the number of international students in the 2009 freshman class is more than double the total from the prior year.
The class is an ethnically diverse group as well. Of the first-year students, 18 percent are Hispanic, 15 percent Asian or Pacific Islander, 7 percent African American, 1 percent Native American and 55 percent white. The crop of freshmen is 59 percent female and 41 percent male.
The class of 2013 has already made their impact felt at LMU. This year’s Freshman Book is David Shields’ “The Thing About Life is That One Day You’ll be Dead,” a provocative work that interweaves personal anecdotes with scientific data as it explores the arc of a human life. Each first-year student is expected to read the book and will discuss it during a special class session.
LMU’s freshmen have also chosen their class motto, from 20th century dramatist George Bernard Shaw: “Life is not about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”