Come May 1, most Mounds View seniors will have committed to the place where they will spend the next two to four years. While we don’t yet know where they will be going, we can look to last year’s seniors as a guide.

Of the 404 seniors who graduated in 2015, 77 percent chose a four-year college, 14 percent chose a two-year college, 1 percent committed to military training, 2 percent found work/apprenticeship, and 5 percent ended the year still undecided as to their futures. These trends have remained relatively constant at Mounds View over the years.

According to self-reported data on Naviance, over 43 percent of 2015 seniors applied to the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, the most popular college choice. Over two-thirds of Mustang applicants are admitted, and about one-third end up enrolling.

The second highest Mustang applicant pool was for the University of St. Thomas, where about one-fifth of the 2015 senior class applied; two-thirds of them were accepted.

Another popular college among applicants is the University of Wisconsin – Madison, which is generally considered a moderate reach school still reasonably close to home. Around 16 percent of seniors reported applying to UW – Madison, although only 40 percent of applicants were accepted and 15 percent of applicants (10 students) enrolled.

In recent years, Mounds View has also had an increasing number of students make it to highly selective schools. Over the last three graduating classes, Mounds View has sent two students to the University of Pennsylvania, two to the University of Chicago, three to Stanford University, two to Harvard University, and two to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Although these numbers may appear relatively low, they are higher than many other Minnesota public schools and a clear step up from the abundant zeros prior to 2013.

Below is a full list of admittance numbers to selective schools from the last three years:

• Amherst College 1
• Boston College 7
• Boston University 14 
• Brown University 1
• California Institute of Technology 3
• Carleton College 8
• Case Western Reserve University 13
• Columbia University 2
• Cornell University 6
• Dartmouth College 4
• Duke University 2
• Emory University 2

  “I chose to go to the University of Minnesota for college because it is close to home, cheap and it has the classes and majors I am looking for.”

  -Leo Rossi

• Georgetown University 4
• Grinnell College 6
• Harvard University 3
• Johns Hopkins University 3
• Macalester College 13
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology 3
• Middlebury College 3
• New York University 13
• Northwestern University 3
• Notre Dame University 2
• Pomona College 1
• Princeton University 1
• Rice University
• Stanford University 4
• Tufts University 2

  “I’m going to University of Wisconsin – Madison because they offer amazing courses and opportunities for me to grow as a person… and the campus is beautiful.”

  -Alyssa Stamper

• University of California Berkeley 9
• University of California Los Angeles 4
• University of Chicago 2
• University of Michigan 10
• University of North Carolina Chapel Hill 4
• University of Miami 3
• University of Pennsylvania 5
• University of Southern California 2
• University of Virginia 4
• University of Wisconsin Madison 83
• Vanderbilt University 1
• Washington University of St. Louis 8
• Wellesley College 2
• Williams College 1
• Yale University 1