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Vol. 19 No. 9
May 2005
Inside Admissions Offices
Spring Returns...
(More) Record Numbers
Editor's Note: While
it is still too early to paint the final picture on this year's
admissions season, CB visits admissions offices throughout the
country to get the early results on the applications and admits
and the trends spotted this spring.
American U. Apps "Through the Roof." "Application
numbers were through the roof," said Sharon Alston, director
of admissions. AU had 13,877 freshman applications, 11.4 percent
ahead of the same time last year.
And according to Susan Hertz, associate director, office of
enrollment, to date, deposits are up 11.7 percent over this time
last year.
Who has been admitted to AU? The short answer: "A lot
of very good students from all over the country and many parts
of the world," said Alston. Fifty percent were in the top
10 percent of their graduating high school class, and 68 percent
ranked in the top 15 percent. U.S. multicultural students represent
21 percent of the new class which is about the same as last year,
of which a quarter are African American, some 27 percent are
Asian and over 20 percent are multiracial.
Applications included international students: 5.2 percent,
about 1 percent less than last year, with 40 percent of those
coming from Europe, nearly 28 percent from Asia, 20 percent from
elsewhere in the Americas and just over 6 percent each from Africa
and the Middle East.
Half of all of AU's U.S. applicants were from the East Coast,
with around 11 percent from the South, 7 percent from the Midwest
and 13 percent from the West and Southwest. U.S. citizens applying
from homes abroad continue to make up a relatively high percentage
at just over 3 percent of the total.
AU notes that the Princeton Review recently selected
it as one of 77 in its America's Best Value Colleges guide.
AU is the only school in the Washington, D.C., area selected
as a "best value college."
Binghamton U. in NY Sees More Parents in the Process.
Cheryl Brown, director of undergraduate admissions, Binghamton
U., State University of New York, said, "One trend to note
is that students appear to be applying to many more colleges
than ever before. Electronic applications are easy, some are
actually free if you apply online and thus, students seem to
be taking advantage of the process.
"In response to this, Binghamton U. has an active waiting
list so as to more accurately predict the number of students
who will actually accept our offers of admission.
"We also are seeing far more parental involvement in
the application process," she said. "We see more parents
coming to open houses. Seldom does a student come alone. (My
children are in their mid 30's...and they and their friends all
did much of the college search process by themselves, including
visits, attending open houses, gathering the materials for the
applications. 'times, they are a changin'!)"
For more info on Binghamton see www.binghamton.edu
Bowdoin C. Sets New Record. In Maine, Bowdoin C. set
a new application record in 2005 with 5,026 students applying,
the first time the school received more than 5,000 applications.
Of those, 1,221 students, or 24 percent, were offered a place
in the Bowdoin Class of 2009, which is expected to total 480
students. Last year, 4,850 students applied and 1,130 were offered
admission.
Among 2005 applicants, women account for 653 of the admitted
students, 54 percent, and men account for 568, or 46 percent.
Students of color are 30 percent of Bowdoin admits.
Geographically, New England represents about 35 percent of
admitted students, the mid-Atlantic about 23 percent, the West
about 17 percent, the Midwest almost 9 percent, the South about
8 percent and the Southwest nearly 4 percent. Maine admits were
up 8 percent from last year, and it was a record year for California,
with an increase of 35 percent in admitted students.
Forty-nine U.S. states are represented in the admitted group,
excluding North Dakota. International students make up over 5
percent of the Bowdoin admits, representing 31 countries.
Colgate U. Also Breaks Records. According to John M.
Corona, associate dean of admission, Colgate U. received 8,007
applications, a 22 percent increase over last year, and broke
the previous application record of 6,848.
Colgate accepted 2,127 students; 13 percent of the applications
were from international students, 26 percent were from U.S. minority
students.
"This was the first applicant pool where students did
not have to submit SAT II exams (a requirement of previous applicant
pools)," noted Corona.
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Cornell U. International Apps Up. Cornell undergraduate
colleges have received 24,114 applications for next fall's entering
first-year class, a 16 percent increase over last year's pool,
according to the Office of Admissions and Enrollment.
Increases in applications were reported across all colleges,
geographic regions and among virtually all racial and ethnic
groups in the United States. Applications from international
students also jumped, by almost 19 percent, to a total of 2,251.
The College of Arts and Sciences received the largest increase
of all Cornell colleges, up 29 percent from last year's figures.
Regionally, applications from the Southeastern United States
rose by 24 percent and the U.S. Far West saw a 23 percent spike.
Doris Davis, Cornell associate provost for admissions and
enrollment, cited several factors that may have increased the
numbers. Among these is Cornell's entry into the Common Application
Group, a consortium of 250 colleges and universities who accept
a common application for admissions. Cornell's membership simplified
the application process in several ways, Davis said.
"The Common Application allows institutions to reach
more students, and it allows students who are applying to multiple
institutions to streamline the application process," she
said.
The Common Application Group includes five Ivy League schools:
Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton and Yale universities.
"We also attribute our success to the redesign of the
admissions view book, as well as to our ongoing efforts to develop
a more coordinated undergraduate admissions communication plan,"
Davis added.
Other related factors contributing to the increase in applications,
according to administrators, a redesigned Cornell Web site, introduced
in the fall semester, and the high profile of many of Cornell's
programs and faculty members nationally and internationally.
Dartmouth C's Apps Highest in History. "What we're
able to provide at this point is data on the applicant pool and
the group to which we have offered admission," said Roland
Adams, director, media relations, public affairs office, Dartmouth.
"Of course, we won't be in a position to profile the class
we actually end up with until it has matriculated.
"For the Class of 2009 we received a total of 12,756
applications (the highest number in Dartmouth's history),"
according Adams.
"The total number of admits is 2,147, which will probably
'yield' a class of about 1,075. Of the total number we have decided
to offer admission, 1,092 are men, 1,055 women; 39 percent of
the admits are students of color, 7 percent international students
and 64 percent are from public high schools. Their SAT averages
are 729 Verbal, 732 Math."
Duke U. Admits 41 Percent of Valedictorians. Duke U.
in Durham, North Carolina, mailed decision letters to 18,062
high school seniors who vied for admission to the Class of 2009
from every state and dozens of nations. As it has done for the
past three years, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions allowed
applicants to view their admissions decisions online through
a secure, password-protected portion of the website.
Duke admitted 3,949 students, including 470 Early Decision
applicants accepted in December. The university expects 1,660
of the accepted students to enroll this fall. The admissions
rate of less than 22 percent is the lowest in more than a decade.
This year's applications surpassed last year's number by 1,300
and that of four years ago by more than 3,200.
The applicant pool was also exceptionally strong, according
to Christoph Guttentag, director of undergraduate admissions.
Duke admitted only 41 percent of the nearly 1,500 valedictorians
who applied for admission this year. More than 3,100 of this
year's applicants had SAT scores of 1,500 or above; Duke admitted
about half of these students.
"The overall strength of our applicant pool makes our
job more challenging in many ways, because we find ourselves
turning down many exceptional applicants who we would have admitted
just a couple of years ago," Guttentag said.
The number of international applicants has risen steadily
during the past five years, Guttentag added, noting that Duke
had 1,825 this year. This is a 27 percent increase over the 1,438
international applicants last year and a 52 percent increase
over the 1,200 applicants Duke received three years ago.
More than 40 percent of Duke undergraduate students receive
financial assistance from the university. The annual average
grant to a financial aid recipient for 2004-05 was $22,876; average
grants in 2005-06 are expected to be at least as high.
At Emory U., Georgia Apps are Up. Emory U. received
a record number of applications for admission to the incoming
class of Emory College, the university's main undergraduate division.
There were 12,004 applications, a 7 percent increase above last
year's record pool.
"We have seen consistent significant increases in international
applications in the last five or six years, but this year we
had a 23 percent increase," said Daniel Walls, dean of admission.
There were 885 international applications. The strongest geographical
growth in the U.S. though comes from the Middle Atlantic region
(up 10 percent), the Southeast (up 7 percent) and a record number
of Georgia students (up 6 percent to 1,523). Other regions saw
more modest gains of 2-3 percent. Emory also has recorded its
largest number of African-American and Hispanic candidates as
well. African-American applicants totaled 1,670 (up 5 percent)
and Hispanic applicants were 675 (up 13 percent).
Early Decision I applications rose by more than 14 percent
(up to 617 from 539 last year), and Early Decision II applications
were up 22 percent (440 from 361). Despite the record number,
Emory admitted roughly the same percentage of the class through
Early Decision as the previous year-41 percent. "Our goal
was not to admit a greater number of applicants," says Walls.
"The students were just as good, but we could be a bit more
selective."
The cream of the crop: the 2,200 high school seniors nominated
for the Emory Scholars merit scholarship program.
According to Walls, no one specific factor accounts for the
overall record pool. He cites ongoing recruiting efforts, including
targeting younger high school students, a growing number of high
school seniors and students applying to more schools thanks to
the ease of online applications.
Harvard U. Most Competitive in History. In the end,
Harvard attracted 22,796 applications, the largest and most competitive
in history, according to the April 7 Harvard University Gazette,
with an admission rate of 9.1 percent. Close to 360 admitted
students are likely eligible for the new HFAI program which requires
no parental contribution from families with incomes under $40,000.
(See April CB for more on the
qualities of Harvard applicants.)
Macalester C. Sees Dip in International Apps. "We
received 4,315 first-year applications, down 2 percent from a
year ago," said Barbara Laskin. "We have admitted 1,825
first-year students. International applications were down 4 percent
and applications from students of color increased 7 percent.
For the second year in a row, applications from international
students have declined, reflecting a nationwide trend."
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Pitzer C. Selectivity Set at 38 Percent. According
to Susan Andrews, associate vice president for marketing and
public relations, Pitzer C., "We continue to see a boost
in applications as student demand has improved, as freshman applications
increased 89 percent since 1999, driving selectivity down from
more than 70 percent in 1999 to 38 percent in 2005."
Reed C. Increases Three Years in a Row. The West Coast
liberal arts and sciences college in Portland, Oregon, had a
record number of freshman applications this year, according to
Paul Marthers, dean of admission. The rise, a 6.4 percent increase
from last year's total and nearly a 53 percent increase since
2001, means that the college has seen record numbers of applications
for three consecutive years.
Smith C. Notes First-Generation Apps. Smith College
received a record number of first-year applications this year
as well. The Admission Office counted 3,407 in all-216 were Early
Decision. By press time, 185 students are enrolled in the class
of 2009.
According to Kristen Cole, media relations director, a glimpse
of this year's applicant pool: 17 percent are first-generation
college students; 17 percent are international citizens; 6 percent
have a sister, mother or grandmother who is a Smith alumna; 10
percent identify as African American; 14 percent, Asian American;
8 percent, Latina; and 1 percent, Native American; 23 percent
reside in New England; 22 percent, the Mid-Atlantic states; 17
percent on the West Coast; 9 percent, the South; 8 percent, the
Midwest; and 4 percent, the Southwest. More than half of the
applicants whose high schools report class rank are in the top
10 percent of their classes
Stanford U's Admit Rate Lowest Ever. The Office of
Undergraduate Admission announced that 2,412 students for the
Class of 2009 have been admitted. Letters were mailed to 1,545
students admitted through the Regular Review process; follow-up
letters have been sent to another 867 students previously offered
admission through the Single-Choice Early Action program.
The total number of applications increased significantly this
year, rising above 20,000 for the first time in university history.
The admit rate was the lowest ever, with just under 12 percent
of the 20,194 applicants admitted.
Director of Admission Anna Marie Porras said that even with
the increased number of applications, the academic quality of
the pool remained exceptionally strong. Over 90 percent of the
admitted applicants for whom class rankings were reported were
within the top 10 percent of their high school classes, and 80
percent have a grade-point average of 4.0 or higher.
Swarthmore C. Admits 22 Percent Early. Swarthmore C.,
outside Philadelphia, sent letters of admission to prospective
members of the Class of 2009. A total of 900 students, including
160 notified during the early decision period, have been accepted,
22 percent of the 4,085 who applied. Based on previous patterns,
Swarthmore expects this group of admitted students to yield a
first-year class of about 385 for next fall.
Of Swarthmore's admitted students who come from high schools
that report class rank, 31 percent are valedictorians or salutatorians,
53 percent are in the top two percent of their high school class
and 90 percent are in the top 10 percent.
New York, the home state of 15 percent of the accepted students,
is the most-represented state in the newly admitted class. California
is next, with 12 percent. Following, in order, are Pennsylvania,
New Jersey, Maryland, Florida, Massachusetts, Texas, Illinois,
Virginia and Ohio. The admitted students come from five continents,
38 nations, and 47 U.S. states as well as the District of Columbia,
Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. South Korea, with six students,
is the most common country of residence among international students
in the admitted class.
Sixty percent of Swarthmore's admitted students come from
public high schools, 26 percent from private independent schools,
5 percent from parochial schools and 7 percent from schools overseas.
Continuing the trend of recent years, more of Swarthmore's admitted
students declared "undecided" as their intended major
than any other. Next, in order, are political science, engineering,
biology, English, physics and pre-med.
Forty-nine percent of all Swarthmore's accepted students identify
themselves as domestic students of color. Asian Americans make
up 21 percent of the admitted class; African Americans, 12 percent
and Latino or Latina students, 16 percent.
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P.S.
Members of Duke's class of 2009 this summer will be reading
The Kite Runner by novelist Khaled Hosseini, a book about
a young Afghan boy who is forced to flee Afghanistan, as part
of the school's summer reading program. New students will discuss
the novel's historical and cultural insights during fall orientation.
The Kite Runner was selected over 90 other nominated books.
Last year's summer book was Mountains Beyond Mountains
by Tracy Kidder.
U. of North Carolina
Wins on the Court
and in the Admissions Offices.
Whether the extra regional and national exposure UNC has enjoyed
in connection with the Tar Heel men's basketball team's national
championship win on April 4 will provide an added boost for admissions
remains unknown.
"People are asking whether our national championship
will make a difference," Stephen Farmer, assistant provost
and director of admissions, said. "Of course, we're very
proud of the team, and everyone here is still walking on cloud
nine. Whether that translates into a higher yield this year or
more applications next year is everyone's guess."
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has admitted
"the strongest class we've ever admitted," said Farmer.
UNC had 18,678 freshman applications, resulting in admission
offers to 6,671 students. About 4,600 North Carolina residents
were invited to join the freshman class at an admission rate
of 57 percent, and 2,057 non-residents were admitted at a rate
of 19 percent. The estimated enrollment for the freshman class
is 3,669, with in-state enrollment targeted at 82 percent as
mandated by the UNC Board of Governors.
The academic credentials of the admitted freshmen are the
strongest ever, according to Farmer, with an average SAT-I score
of 1336, up 13 points from last year. And admitted freshmen hail
from every North Carolina county, each of the nation's 50 states
and 44 countries outside of the United States. More than 26 percent
of the admitted class members indicated that they are African-American,
Hispanic, Asian or Native American.
Applications received at least two evaluations, according
to UNC Admissions. "We're not just looking for students
with good test scores," Farmer said. "We want bright,
good-hearted students who will throw themselves into the life
of our community and take advantage of every opportunity that's
given to them, from independent research and first-year seminars
to community outreach and study abroad. We want students who
will push boundaries and encourage each other to do great things."
In March, the UNC's board of trustees decided to devote 25
percent of its revenue from trademark licensing to merit-based
scholarships. So, the class enrolling in fall 2005 will include
60 more scholarship recipients than last year's class. All told,
the freshman class is expected to have 290 merit-based scholars,
including 60 Morehead, 15 Robertson and more than 130 National
Merit Scholars. Additionally, the landmark Carolina Covenant
enables qualified low-income first-year students to graduate
from UNC debt-free. Through these and other programs, North Carolina
meets 100 percent of demonstrated financial need of undergraduate
students.
For info on the Carolina Covenant background see: http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/feb05/covenant022105.html.
For info on the merit scholarship expansion background see:
http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/mar05/merit032405.html.
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NEWS YOU CAN USE
Global Accessibility. A new study from the Educational
Policy Institute, "Global Higher Education Rankings 2005,"
places the United States thirteenth, the United Kingdom fourteenth
and Japan sixteenth on the affordability scale. Sweden is the
most affordable nation for postsecondary study, followed by Finland
and The Netherlands. However, the U.S. ranked fourth on accessibility
to higher education behind The Netherlands, Finland and Britain,
and followed by Canada, Australia and Ireland.
"Evidence from the study indicates that, though the perceptions
of the U.S. lagging behind other countries in terms of affordable
education hold, the gap between high-tuition and no-tuition countries
is not as much as many people believe," said EPI's vice
president Alex Usher.
The study also concluded that "the links between accessibility
and affordability are not as straightforward as some policymakers
and analysts believe." The entire study can be found at
www.educationalpolicy.org.
Improving Latino Opportunity.
A longitudinal study by the Educational Policy Institute, which
followed eighth graders in 1988 through 2000 when they graduated,
found that Latino students with "a 3.2 GPA in high school
were 62 percent more likely than other students to earn a B.A.
within eight years of high school graduation."
"When Latino students exhibited aspirations toward a
bachelor's degree, they had a 53 percent higher probability of
reaching that goal," said EPI president Dr. Watson Scott
Swail. "We found that simple, doable things like planning
for college on the part of the student and the parents tend to
matter a lot. This is significant because we know what to do
about those things."
The report recommends middle and high schools better communicate
postsecondary options, better utilize counselors and encourage
more mathematical training.
Demographic Crash? The
number of high school graduates in New England is expected to
drop by 7 percent between 2009 and 2018, according to a Spring
2005 article in Connection, The Journal Of The New England
Board Of Higher Education. The number of white high school
grads will fall by 18,000; the number of students of color will
increase by 11,000. As a result, "New England colleges and
universities need to focus their recruitment strategies on increasing
college participation among New England Hispanics and African-Americans,"
Connection noted.
New England Trends. Other
trends spotted by Connection, include:
- 130,000 more women attend New England colleges than men;
- Post-9/11 visa restrictions have led to dramatic decreases
in foreign student enrollment;
- full-time college enrollment is larger and growing faster
in New England than part-time enrollment.
Job Market Looking Up.
After several down years, college graduates may have something
to cheer about on the job front, www.CollegeJournal.com,
The Wall Street Journal's career guide for college students,
says.
A Survey by the Collegiate Employment Research Institute found
that 47 percent of respondents plan to hire college grads and
hiring is expected to increase by 20 percent. The professional-service
sector is expected to lead the way, followed by retail, wholesale,
transportation (not including airlines), health care, lodging
and entertainment, and real estate. Sales, marketing, computer
science and information technology will bounce back. Chemical
engineers also have bright prospects.
College with a Conscience.
Antioch C. in Ohio is one of 81 institutions picked by The
Princeton Review and Campus Compact as good at fostering
social responsibility and public service. Antioch, to be featured
in new book due out in June, Colleges with a Conscience,
has a long history of social activism.
Last year's first-year class was made up of 124 students with
a combined SAT average of 1140. About 81 percent participated
in an organized demonstration while in high school compared with
44 percent at all four-year selective colleges. And 84 percent
hope to "develop a meaningful philosophy of life" while
at college, compared with 47 percent of all students at other
four-year selective colleges. More than 70 percent keep up with
political events, compared to 40 percent at other four-year selective
colleges. And 70 percent of Antioch's first-year students are
going to college to make them "a more cultured person,"
compared to 46 percent at other selective colleges.
College Causes Lasting Memories.
A study in the journal Neuropsychology suggests that a
college education helps compensate for age-related cognitive
declines. Higher education enables senior citizens to more effectively
"call up the reserves" from the brain's frontal lobes.
"State of College Admissions,"
2005. The 159-page annual report from the National Association
for College Admissions Counseling is out. It is available at:
www.nacac.com.
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TESTING TABS
Perfect 2400. The perfect SAT score is no longer
1600. With the addition of the writing section, the bar has been
raised to 2400. That didn't stop 107 students among the 300,000
who took the new test on March 12 from scoring a perfect 2400.
This is about half as many as those who posted perfect scores
on the old SAT.
Optional ACT Writing Test Is
Working. According to ACT, roughly half of the high school
juniors who took the ACT Assessment on the April 9 national test
date chose to take the optional Writing Test. This result continues
a trend that began with the Writing Test's debut in February.
This year's 11th graders are the first class affected by this
change.
Although most colleges will not be requiring a writing score,
some will require it of students applying for admission starting
in the fall of 2006. ACT said that colleges and universities
have made varied decisions regarding whether to require, recommend
or not require that students submit writing test scores. For
example, ACT research found:
- 18 percent of four-year institutions have indicated that
they will require the Writing Test scores;
- 21 percent say they will recommend, but not require, the
scores.
- 61 percent say they will not require nor recommend that students
submit Writing Test scores.
To find out about a specific college's requirements regarding
the ACT Writing Test see www.actstudent.org.
"New SAT Scores Arrive."
According to the New York Times April 17 article "New
SAT Scores Arrive," some students were confused about the
scoring of the new SAT Writing Test. Among the students and counselors
interviewed there were questions about the time allotted for
the essay writing, the score students actually received and the
fact that SAT says it won't discuss its scoring until the test
has been in use for a year. Twenty-five percent of the SAT writing
score is based on the essay.
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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.).
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