On August 29, Shandong University released the admissions data for its Class of 2026 undergraduate students. This year, 10,522 new students from across the country will begin a new chapter of their lives at the university. According to the data, the top source high school for Shandong University has changed hands this year, with Lixia No. 2 High School surpassing the Shandong Provincial Experimental High School, which had held the top position for many consecutive years.
Looking at the geographic origins of the incoming class, among the top five provinces sending the most students to Shandong University, four are from the "Four Central Provinces" (Shandong, Henan, Anhui, and Shanxi). Shandong Province itself contributes 3,681 students, the largest cohort. Henan Province follows with 632 students, Anhui Province ranks third with 450, Hebei Province is fourth with 446, and Shanxi Province rounds out the top five with 379 students.
In terms of feeder schools, the Class of 2026 hails from more than 2,900 high schools nationwide. Notably, the ranking of provincial source schools has seen a subtle shift. The Shandong Provincial Experimental High School, which had dominated the list for years, has lost its top spot to Lixia No. 2 High School and now sits in second place. The top ten provincial high schools are: Lixia No. 2, Shandong Provincial Experimental, Liaocheng No. 1, Heze No. 1, Linyi No. 1, Weifang No. 1, Dongying No. 1, Qingdao No. 2, Guangrao No. 1, and Dongying Shengli No. 1. For out-of-province students, the most represented high schools include Xinzhou No. 1 High School, Ordos No. 1 High School, Yinchuan No. 1 High School, Dancheng County No. 1 Senior High School, Qinghai Huangchuan High School, Nanning No. 2 High School, Shijiazhuang No. 2 Experimental School, Aksu Prefecture No. 2 High School, Mianyang Nanshan High School, and Mianyang High School in Sichuan.
Among the 10,522 new undergraduates, students born in 2008, often dubbed "Olympic babies," form the largest demographic, with 6,558 students accounting for approximately 62.3% of the total. Notably, 67 of these students were born on August 8, 2008, the very day of the opening ceremony for the 29th Olympic Games. A further 3,593 students were born in 2007, making up about 34.1% of the class, while 203 students were born in 2006 (1.92%). Only 168 students, or about 1.6%, were born in other years.
As for names, the top five most common surnames among the new students are Wang, Zhang, Li, Liu, and Chen. In a unique twist, 34 students have the given name "Haoran," a name that holds a special connection to the university, adding a touch of serendipity to the incoming cohort.
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