Vol. 19 No. 4 December 2004

Results of CB's 19th Annual
College Admissions Trends Survey
A Bumper Year
AS THE NUMBER of high school graduates headed for college continues to swell, how are colleges and universities adjusting? That's what CB's 19th Annual College Admissions Trends Survey sought to discover. This year, as we went to press, CB had heard from over 60 representative colleges and universities, small and large across the U.S. Here's what admissions officers and enrollment specialists saw in the 2004 admissions cycle.

INCREASED QUALITY
Dan O'Neill, associate director of admissions at Yale University, noted "more applicants of competitive caliber." Judy Sherburne at the U. of North Florida agreed: "Demand to attend UNF is growing and we are pleased to have so many well qualified students applying." Jennifer Kretchmar, U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, observed, "Students are better prepared with more advanced coursework." Christine Collins, senior assistant director of admissions at Towson U., also saw an "increase in highly qualified students."

Kenneth G. MacKenzie, director of enrollment planning and retention at Boston U., concluded, "Students are beginning their college search as early as sophomore year. This allows more time to physically visit campus before making the decision to submit an application. In addition our applicant pool has grown both in volume as well as in quality. This translated into the most academically distinguished matriculated pool in the University's history."

STILL MORE APPLICATIONS
This year 60 percent of the colleges and universities in CB's 19th Annual College Admissions Trends Survey received more applications compared to last year. Schools receiving more applications in 2004 than in 2003 included (with number of applicants): American U. (12,211), Babson C. (3,064), Bethel U. in Minnesota (2,143), Boston C. (22,451), Brandeis U. (5,831), Centre C. in Kentucky (1,604), Claremont McKenna in California (3,528), C. of Charleston in South Carolina (10,096), Cornell C. in Iowa (1,858), Dickinson C. in Pennsylvania (4,998), Drake U. in Iowa (3,480), Elizabethtown C. in Pennsylvania (3,044) and Emory in Georgia (11,218).

Others with more applicants this year included The Evergreen State in Washington (3,609), Florida State U. (33,285), Green Mountain C. in Vermont (889), Hampden-Sydney C. in Virginia (1,207), Husson C. in Maine (1,014), Keene State in New Hampshire (4,239), Marquette U. in Wisconsin (10,201), Northeastern U. in Massachusetts (24,436), North Carolina State U. (13,880), Oberlin C. (5,160), Prairie View A&M U. in Texas (4,515), Providence C. in Rhode Island (7,827).

Purdue U. in Indiana (24,003), Reed C. in Oregon (2,485), Saint Louis U. (6,692), Santa Clara U. in California (7,649), Southern Methodist U. in Texas (6,656), U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (19,053), U. of North Dakota (4,256), U. of North Florida (6,409), U. of Utah (6,251), Xavier U. in Ohio (4,767) and Yale (19,682).

About 36 percent of the colleges and universities in CB's survey attracted fewer applications this year than last. Colleges receiving fewer applications in 2004 included: Boston U. (28,240), Central Connecticut State U. (6,980), Colgate U. in New York (6,551), Dartmouth C. (11,734), Duquesne U. in Pennsylvania (3,221), Kettering U. in Michigan (2,734), Lafayette C. in Pennsylvania (5,581), Messiah C. in Pennsylvania (2,050), Norfolk State U. in Virginia (4,243), Ohio U. (12,417), The Ohio State U. (16,877), Pine Manor C. in Massachusetts (550), Point Park U. in Pennsylvania (1,471), Portland State U. in Oregon (2,900), St. Lawrence U. in New York (2,985), Smith C. (2,993), Towson U. in Maryland (10,665), U. of California Davis (31,528), U. of Michigan-Dearborn (2,566), U. Oklahoma (8,475) and Valparaiso U. in Indiana (3,923).

Georgia Southern U. (8,434), James Madison in Virginia (15,013), Longwood in Virginia (3,573), Saint Michael's in Vermont (2,755) and the U. of Illinois (21,986) all attracted about the same number of applicants this year as last.

EARLY ACTION/DECISION
Dr. Patricia Murphy, assistant vice president for enrollment and college relations at Dickinson College, saw "an increased interest in Early Decision and Early Action programs." So did Daniel Walls, dean of admissions at Emory.

How many Early Action/Early Decision applications did colleges and universities in this year's survey receive? And what percent of their first-year class did they accept EA/ED?

Colleges and universities that attracted more EA/ED applications for 2004 than for 2003 (with percent of first-year class admitted ED/EA) included: Bethel (1,300/80%), Centre (564/43%), Claremont McKenna (150/32%), Charleston (4,320/29%), Dartmouth (1,278/35%), Dickinson (1,623/62%), Duquesne (889/29%), Emory (858/35%), Lafayette (363/41%), Longwood (23%), Messiah (90), North Carolina State (10,647/45%), Providence (1,512/23%), Reed (180/32%), Saint Michael's (1,068/42%), Santa Clara (1,650/33%), Southern Methodist (2,100/35%), U. North Carolina (9,148/72%), Valparaiso (1,500) and Yale.

Colleges and universities that attracted fewer EA/ED applications (number of applications/ percent of first-year class) included: Babson (927/41%), Boston C. (4,801/35%), Boston U. (5%), Colgate (472/37%), Hampden-Sydney C. (89/20%), Oberlin (280/28%) and North Florida (169).

Colleges and universities that attracted about the same number EA/ED applications (with percent of first-year class) included: American (3%), Brandeis (333/67%), James Madison (4,039/27%), St. Lawrence (163/20%) and Smith (156/22%).

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ELECTRONIC APPLICATIONS
Marianne Borgman at Xavier U. was among many who reported "more online applications."

The following schools received more electronic applications in 2004 than last year, with the number in parenthesis: American (8,371), Babson (1,200), Bethel (20%), Boston C. (40%), Boston U. (17,210), Centre (860), Claremont McKenna (more than 60%), Colgate (3,496), Charleston (7,360), Cornell C. (868), Dartmouth (4,880), Drake, Elizabethtown (40%), Emory (2,666), Evergreen State (2,158), Florida State (27,228), Green Mountain (687), Hampden-Sydney (662), James Madison, Keene State (351), Lafayette (2,000), Longwood (70%).

Marquette (7,600), North Carolina State (80%), Oberlin (2,500), Ohio U. (50%), Ohio State (53%), Point Park (1,473), Prairie View A&M (4,722), Providence (1,644), Purdue (13,481), St. Lawrence (1,181), Saint Louis (50%), Saint Michael's (1,637), Santa Clara (5,100), Smith (1,407), U. of Illinois, U. North Carolina (15,259), U. North Dakota (85%), U. Utah (73%), Valparaiso (2,357), Xavier (3,814) and Yale.

Colleges that received fewer electronic applications this year included: Kettering (1,498), Norfolk State (2,200), Pine Manor (236) and U. North Florida (7,864).

Schools that received about the same number of electronic applications this year included: Messiah (800) and Southern Methodist U.

TOTAL ADMITTED
In 2004, 66 percent of the colleges in CB's survey accepted more students than last year. Colleges admitting more students in 2004 than last year included: American, Babson, Bethel, Boston C., Boston U., Central Connecticut State, Centre, Colgate, Charleston, Cornell C., Dartmouth, Dickinson, Drake, Elizabethtown, Evergreen State, Green Mountain, Hampden-Sydney, Husson, Keene State, Kettering, Lafayette, Longwood U. in Virginia, Marquette, North Carolina State.

Oberlin, Ohio U., Prairie View A&M, Providence, Purdue, Reed, St. Lawrence, Saint Louis, Saint Michael's, Santa Clara, Towson, U. of Illinois, U. Oklahoma, U. North Carolina, U. North Dakota, U. North Florida, U. Utah and Xavier.

This year, 30 percent of the colleges in CB's survey accepted fewer students in 2004 than in 2003, including: Brandeis, Claremont McKenna, Duquesne, Emory, Florida State, Messiah, Northeastern, Norfolk State, Ohio State, Pine Manor, Point Park, Portland State, Smith, U.C. Davis, Michigan-Dearborn, Valparaiso and Yale.

BIG WAIT LISTS BACK
Colleges and universities in CB's survey that wait listed more students in 2004 than last year (with number wait listed/admitted) included: Babson (532/0), Bethel (250/15), Brandeis (874/38), Centre (94/4), Claremont McKenna (663/30), Charleston (355/72), Cornell C. (58/15), Emory (800/31), Florida State (300/0), Marquette (680/168), Oberlin (791/63), Reed (562/20), Santa Clara (1,000), the U. North Carolina (1,915/249) and U. Oklahoma (836/274).

Schools that wait listed fewer students this year included: Boston U. (1,738/51), Colgate (889/44), Dickinson (270/41), Northeastern (907/511), St. Lawrence (312/24), Saint Michael's (271/10), Smith (255/0), Xavier (149/2) and Yale (1,237/6).

Boston C. (1,500/200) and Dartmouth (700/24) had about the same number of wait listed students this year as last year. So did Husson with (8/6), James Madison (1,614/309), Lafayette (1,600/83), Longwood (125/100), North Carolina State (500), Ohio State (600/0) and Providence (1,527/221).

FIRST-YEAR CLASS SIZES
Shani Lenore, director of undergraduate admission at Saint Louis U. noted, "double-deposits, students attending more than one orientation and late decisions." Christopher Lydon at Providence saw an "increase in summer melt."

In the end, 52 percent of the colleges settled on larger first-year classes in 2004 than in 2003, including: Babson (426), Boston U. (4,352), Central Connecticut State (1,281), Centre (298), Claremont McKenna (280), Colgate (749), Charleston (1,944), Elizabethtown (545), Emory (1,276), Evergreen State (401), Florida State (6,262), Georgia Southern (3,010), Green Mountain (186), Hampden-Sydney (321), Keene State (1,097), Kettering (565), Lafayette (609), Longwood (980), Ohio U. (3,791), Prairie View A&M (1,515), Providence (1,037), Purdue (6,786), Reed (339), Saint Louis (1,478), Santa Clara (1,173), Smith (696), Towson (2,097), U. Illinois (7,248), U. North Carolina (3,589), North Florida (1,766), Utah (2,631) and Xavier (890).

But 36 percent of the colleges settled on smaller first-year classes this year, most by design, including: American, Brandeis (766), Cornell C. (293), Dickinson (606), Drake (782), Duquesne (1,214), Husson (490), James Madison (3,285), Marquette (1,803), Messiah (690), Northeastern (2,778), Norfolk (1,010), Oberlin (657), Ohio State (5,980), Pine Manor (172), Point Park (397), Portland State (1,402), Southern Methodist (1,322), U.C. Davis (4,266), U. Michigan-Dearborn (696), U. Oklahoma (3,614), U. North Dakota (2,187) and Valparaiso (910).

And 11 percent of the colleges ended up with about the same size first-year classes in 2004 as in 2003, including: Bethel (685), Boston C. (2,275), Dartmouth (1,077), North Carolina State (3,835), St. Lawrence (568), Saint Michael's (521) and Yale (1,308).

YIELDS
Colleges that posted higher yields (percent of admitted students who actually enrolled) in 2004 than in 2003 included: Babson (38%), Boston U. (28%), Central Connecticut State (60%), Centre (27%), Claremont McKenna (38%), Elizabethtown (30%), Florida State (43%), Georgia Southern U. (66%), Green Mountain (25%), Hampden-Sydney (38%), Longwood (39%), Ohio State (47%), Pine Manor (49%), Portland State (66%), Saint Louis (84%), Santa Clara (28%), Smith (41%), North Florida (42%), Xavier (25%) and Yale (68%).

Schools with lower yields this year than last included: Bethel (51%), Charleston (43%), Cornell C. (28%), Dickinson (25%), Drake (27%), Husson (49%), James Madison (35%), Marquette (26%), Northeastern (26%), Norfolk State (32%), Oberlin (30%), Ohio U. (35%), Prairie View A&M (56%), Purdue (35%), St. Lawrence (31%), Saint Michael's (27%), U.C. Davis (25%), U. Michigan-Dearborn (39%), U. Oklahoma (54%), U. North Carolina (53%), North Dakota (55%) and Valparaiso.

Colleges with about the same yields as last year included: American (22%), Boston C. (32%), Brandeis (33%), Colgate (34%), Dartmouth (50%), Emory (31%), Evergreen State (48%), Keene State (37%), Kettering U. (34%), Lafayette (28%), Messiah (41%), North Carolina State (48%), Point Park (81%), Providence (25%), Reed (29%), Southern Methodist, Towson (29%), U. Illinois (49%) and Utah (58%).

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THE COUNSELOR'S CORNER
How Effective Are Commercial
Tests Prep Courses?
DESPITE WHAT THE BIG TEST PREP companies would have you believe, there are no one-size-fits-all answers. Formal test prep courses may be a good bet for some students, a total waste for others. But how to say what's best for any particular student?

To shed some light on what is essentially a counseling issue, we decided to go to the most reliable source we could think of: students who recently took the SAT. We approached college counselors at 70 high schools across the country, mainly independent private and suburban public schools where most students go on to college. We asked them to distribute a questionnaire to a cross-section of 20 of their students asking how they prepared for the test and what advice they had for other students. We received responses from 815 students (a 58 percent response rate). It turned out that 390 (48 percent) had received face-to-face coaching for the test, while 425 (52 percent) had prepared on their own.

The most compelling finding was that students who had not signed up for commercial test prep courses had an average combined score of 1291, while those who had gone the formal test prep route averaged 1257. Among the highest scorers-those with combined scores of 1500 or higher-only 22 percent had taken a commercial course.

Since we did not gather background data on respondents, we hesitate to draw any firm conclusions from these data about the effectiveness of coaching. Certainly, a goodly number of top students figured that they did not need a prep course. But the numbers would seem to raise a red flag about any claims that test prep is a sure fire way to improve scores.

The main message from respondents was the value of taking practice tests. Whether they liked their prep courses or not, students who had taken them described the opportunity to take practice tests as the most valuable part of their coaching. Many others told us that they successfully prepared on their own by getting a copy of the College Board's 10 Real SATs, now renamed The Official SAT Study Guide: For the New SAT, and taking practice tests under timed conditions and then working on areas where they were weak. By doing so, they came to understand how to approach testing basics such as pacing and when to guess. Issues such as these are related to each student's personal testing-taking style rather than the one-size-fits-all wisdom dispensed by many test prep companies.

This all makes intuitive sense. If you want to learn how to shoot foul shots, play the violin or master Tai Chi, you have to go out and do it over and over. Learning theorists have long taught us that hands-on practice in mastering a task beats listening to an expert lecture about it. Yet most prep courses still emphasize old-fashioned sage-on-the-stage pedagogy, often in classes that go for three or four hours.

Our respondents had other advice for their little brothers and sisters. Whether or not they paid for coaching, students saw little value in memorizing strategies for answering particular types of problems or in figuring out ways to "psych out" the test.

"Making the test into a mental game is distracting and can be demoralizing," wrote one student. Another added, "With dozens of kinds of math tricks, it is difficult to know when to use what."

Students also stressed the importance of self-confidence. The highest scoring students in our survey had a swagger that bordered on cockiness, while those with lower scorers were riddled with anxiety. While superior students have reasons to be less nervous, it seems that anxiety itself is an important deflator of scores.

One respondent explained her highly unusual jump of 190 points in her combined score between her second and third SAT: "I just told myself it didn't matter and I could crush the test-and I did."

Thus, while some students will always be more high-strung than others, it is possible to lessen anxiety by increasing familiarity with the test.

There is one scenario in which coaching courses may be the best approach-when students lack the discipline or ability to tackle the process on their own and need a task master to crack the whip. But for many others, that $20 collection of real SATs will look like a real bargain.

Edward B. Fiske and Bruce G. Hammond are co-authors of the newly released Fiske New SAT: Insider's Guide (Sourcebooks, Inc., 2004).

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International Students
Despite problems with student visas, about 40 percent of the colleges and universities in this year's survey accepted more international students this year than last. Colleges that accepted more international students included: American (260), Babson (158, with the majority from India), Boston C. (233, with the majority from Latin America), Boston U. (891), Claremont McKenna (mostly from Asia), Charleston (83, mostly from Europe), Cornell C. (18, mostly from Southeast Asia), Dickinson (71, mostly from Europe), Emory (221, mostly from Asia), Georgia Southern (19), Green Mountain (20, from Kenya, Canada, and Asia), Northeastern, Ohio State (366), Point Park (25), Providence (55, mostly from Western Europe), Purdue (1,090), St. Lawrence (54), Santa Clara (99, mostly from East Asia and India), U. Illinois (1,392, mostly from Asia and Europe), U. North Florida (37) and Valparaiso.

About 40 percent accepted fewer international students this year, including: Bethel (15), Brandeis (44), Colgate (91), Drake (75), Duquesne (66), Hampden-Sydney (6, mostly from Nepal), James Madison (62), Kettering (8), Longwood (32), Messiah, Norfolk (31, mostly from the Virgin Islands), Ohio U., Pine Manor (24), Portland State (173, mostly from China and India), Prairie View A&M (32), Saint Louis (52), Saint Michael's (28), Smith (152, mostly from Asia), U. Oklahoma (83), U. North Carolina (101) and Utah (343 undergrads). Several colleges noted that fewer international students had applied.

Colleges that accepted about the same number of international students this year included: Centre (11, mostly from Asia), Elizabethtown, Evergreen State (20), Husson (Asia), Lafayette (85), Marquette, Reed (28), Southern Methodist, Michigan-Dearborn (24) and North Dakota.

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Other 2004 Admissions Trends
Nancy Peterson at Southern Methodist U. said, "Students are applying to a greater number of institutions." Robin Rhodes Astor, senior associate director of admissions at Saint Michael's C. in Vermont, noted an "increased use of the common application and online applications." Jerry Ripke, assistant director of admissions at Purdue, saw "more students applying earlier." Cheryl Jorgenson, assistant provost at the U. of Oklahoma, observed, "more first-time freshmen women and slightly lower non-resident enrollment."

Brenda Smith at Norfolk State U., observed that, "Students are becoming more Internet savvy gathering information on colleges." Susan Minger at Cornell C. saw "a more competitive environment, one in which students are applying to more institutions than in the past." She added, "More students are using the Internet to ask questions about our college and to apply to our institution." Dr. Patricia Murphy, assistant vice president for enrollment and college relations at Dickinson C., saw "an increased concern about price." Patsy Mattas at Drake noted, "Students want to stay closer to home; state schools are very popular."

Anne Vozzella, assistant director of undergraduate admission at Babson C., said, "Nationally, there seems to be more home-schooled applicants, more grade inflation and an increase in students with learning differences."

Richard R. Burnette III, director of information management at Florida State U., said, "More students are taking a large number of A.P. and dual enrollment courses and have incoming credit hours when they begin college. Also, test scores are consistently on the upswing. And more parents call or write to inquire about their child's application and more parents seem to be the authors of the application themselves, rather than the student taking the initiative to handle the application process on their own."

James Koerschen at Kettering U. said, "more students are applying to multiple schools, and there is less interest in engineering as a career." Carol A. Rowlands, director of admissions at Lafayette C., saw "an increased number of families helping to negotiate aid or scholarship awards."

Alison Almasian at St. Lawrence U., noted "more students applying on-line, greater confusion for families about scholarships and financial aid at various colleges." Andi Jones, associate director for admissions at Valparaiso U., said, "Students were very late deciding which college to attend-more than usual!" Marianne Borgmann at Xavier U., agreed, "Students are waiting longer to deposit."

Renee Hayes at Georgia Southern U., observed "more parental involvement, students apply earlier, but not for housing; and a rise in standardized test scores."

Gail Capel Stephenoff, director of enrollment management at The Ohio State U., revealed, "2004 was the year we introduced essays, and we learned a great deal about the hesitation to write-perhaps not a trend, but definitely an eye-opener."

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Gap Year
CB has heard from high school counselors that more of their students are interested in the "gap year," or taking time off between high school and college. So we asked the colleges in this year's survey if they are seeing more students desiring a gap year. We also wanted to know if the schools gave deferments to admitted students who want to take time off. Here's what the colleges reported.

They see more interest in the Gap Year/use deferments (NA means no answer): American (no/yes), Babson (no/yes), Bethel (no/no), Boston C. (no/yes), Boston U. (no/yes), Brandeis (no/yes), Central Connecticut State (no/NA), Centre (no/yes), Claremont McKenna (no/yes), Colgate (no/yes), Charleston (no/yes), Cornell C. (no/yes), Dartmouth (NA/yes), Dickinson (no/yes), Drake (no/yes), Duquesne (no/yes), Elizabethtown (no/yes), Emory (yes/yes), Evergreen State (no/yes), Florida State (no/no), Georgia Southern (no/NA), Green Mountain (yes/yes), Hampden-Sydney (no/no), Husson (no/yes), James Madison (no/yes), Keene State (NA/no), Kettering (no/no), Lafayette (no/yes), Longwood (no/yes), Marquette (no/yes) and Michigan-Dearborn (no/yes).

Norfolk (NA/yes), Oberlin (no/yes), Ohio U. (no/NA), Pine Manor (no/yes), Point Park (no/yes), Portland State (NA/yes), Prairie View A&M (yes/yes), Providence (no/yes), Purdue (no/NA), Reed (yes/yes), St. Lawrence (no/yes), Saint Louis (yes/yes), Saint Michael's (no/yes), Santa Clara (no/yes), Smith (yes/yes), Southern Methodist (yes/yes), Towson (no/yes), U. Illinois (no/yes), U. North Carolina (no/yes depending upon activity pursued), U. North Florida (yes/yes), Utah (no/no), Xavier (no/yes) and Yale (no/yes).

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Legacies
Only 37 percent of the colleges in this year's CB survey said they give an advantage to students whose parents attended the same college. Among those who give advantage to legacies are: Babson, Bethel, Boston C., Claremont McKenna ("less than in the past"), Colgate, Dartmouth ("one factor taken into consideration"), Dickinson, Elizabethtown, Emory, Florida State ("not an over-riding consideration), Hampden-Sydney, Lafayette, Longwood, Marquette, Oberlin, Providence, Reed, St. Lawrence, Smith, Southern Methodist, U. North Carolina, Valparaiso and Yale.

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Upcoming Deadlines for 2005 Admissions

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COLLEGE BOUND's Publisher/Editor: R. Craig Sautter, DePaul University; Chief Operating Officer: Sally Reed; Contributor: Marc Davis; Circulation: Irma Gonzalez-Hider; Illustration: Louis Coronel; Board of Advisors: Rosita Fernandez-Rojo, Choate-Rosemary Hall; Claire D. Friedlander, Bedford (N.Y.) Central School District; Howard Greene, author, The Greenes' Guides to Educational Planning Series; Frank C. Leana, Ph.D., educational counselor; Virginia Vogel, Educational Guidance Services; M. Fredric Volkmann, Washington University in St. Louis, Mary Ann Willis, Bayside Academy (Daphne, Ala.).

In This Issue

Feature Articles
A Bumper Year

COUNSELOR'S CORNER
How Effective Are Commercial
Tests Prep Courses?

International Students

Other 2004 Admissions Trends

Gap Year

Legacies

Upcoming Deadlines for
2005 Admissions

COMING UP:
More Admissions Trends Results...

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

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