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Posted 8-24-00
CLEVELAND -- A record number of undergraduate applications is expected to bring to the Case Western Reserve University campus a freshman class similar in size to the record-sized class from fall 1998.
This fall's freshman class is expected to include more minorities, have more students interested in studying the humanities and social sciences, and reflect a greater geographic distribution than many previous years. A targeted plan for identifying and communicating with prospective students can help account for these changes.
"We tried to raise the application level with some strategic purpose," said William Conley, dean of undergraduate admission. "We've really had gratifying results."
Despite the larger freshman class, the Office of Housing and Residence Life has been able to make permanent housing assignments for all incoming freshmen this fall, according to Donald Kamalsky, director of housing and residence life. The department has been actively working to identify students who are not returning this fall, such as for co-op placements or Junior Year Abroad experiences, to determine which rooms would be available for reassignment.
Applications rose 9 percent over last year to reach a record level of 4,731. The acceptance rate dropped slightly to 71 percent, from nearly 72 percent last year.
As of July 24, some 854 admitted students had paid deposits to enroll in this fall's freshman class. This is just below fall 1998, when 856 freshman paid deposits to indicate their plans to enroll. Ultimately 832 freshmen enrolled that year.
The admissions office used a variety of methods to acquaint prospective students with the University and encourage them to apply -- especially for students in target areas such as minority groups, those interested in studying the humanities and social sciences, and those from states viewed as being prime recruiting ground.
"We got more aggressive with print and electronic media to try to build the inquiry pool," Conley said.
For example, instead of waiting for students to return a response card to request a viewbook packet, the admissions office sent the entire packet to targeted students. Some 12,000 students also received the admissions CD-ROM.
The office distributed five e-mail newsletters to prospective students, and faculty and departments conducted follow-ups by e-mail and telephone.
In the past, many departments have waited until students are admitted to make contact with them. This year, some areas were more assertive, contacting students in the fall before they applied for admission.
There will be 63 freshmen from underrepresented minority groups -- the highest level since 1991. Among this year's expected enrollees, there are 27 African-American students, 36 Hispanic students, and one Native American student.
"The involvement of current students from minority groups in the recruitment process has been very supportive," Conley said. "They conveyed a sense that the institution had engaged them, and prospective freshmen seemed to respond to this."
The newest freshman class should be more geographically diverse than previous years. There will be fewer Ohio students -- 51 percent of the class this year, down from 56 percent last year.
"We're seeing greater depth in the range of states our freshmen come from, and the number of freshmen from each state," Conley said.
For example, among freshmen who paid enrollment deposits, the number of students from California jumped from five to 16, and the number from the state of Washington doubled from five to 10.
In states such as Washington and Oregon, there are no private research universities with the academic diversity that CWRU offers, Conley said. "We have found a real responsiveness in people's willingness to travel and an interest in this type of urban, comprehensive university."
Michigan and Massachusetts replaced New Jersey and Illinois on the list of the top five states from which expected enrollees hail. After Ohio's 439 freshmen, Pennsylvania is second with 85, and New York is third with 58. Michigan now ranks fourth with 25 students (up from 17 last year). The number of students from Massachusetts should grow from eight to 21 students this year to rank this East Coast state fifth.
Two dozen international freshmen are expected to enroll, representing 10 countries. "We have a very strong concentration from South Korea and Japan," Conley said. A few also are coming from Thailand. "We're seeing that the Pacific financial crisis has been tempered," he added.
As for the distribution of academic interests, more than two-thirds of incoming freshmen still indicate a desire to study engineering, science, mathematics, or pre-medical fields.
However, the number of freshmen interested in studying humanities and social sciences has nearly doubled in the past two years, rising from 58 in fall 1998 to 63 last year, and jumping to 98 students this fall.
About 40 students remain interested in management majors, about two dozen are interested in nursing, and 116 students -- 15 more than last year -- remain undecided.
The admissions process is reaping the benefits of recent growth in the Alumni Admissions Programs, which has nearly doubled to around 450 participants during the past four to five years, Conley said. Through this program, alumni volunteers receive training, then interview prospective students, represent CWRU at college fairs, and make personal contact with applicants.
Another benefit has come from the success of the College of Arts and Sciences campaign, he added. The campaign has helped create programs such as the Baker Nord Center for the Humanities and the College Scholars Program.
"It's important to put enough of those programs together to demonstrate that there are venues on campus where the arts and letters come together," Conley said. E-mail newsletters to prospective students hyped these resources. "It certainly gave us a lot more anchors to show the vitality of our humanities programs than we had several years ago."
The newest freshman class is as strong academically as any in recent years, as students' SAT and ACT test scores show. The middle 50 percent of incoming freshmen had a range of SAT scores from 1240-1470. On the ACT, the middle 50 percent of the class scored in the 28-32 range -- meaning a quarter of the class scored 33 or higher on the exam.
Several merit scholarships were again available for incoming freshmen this fall, based on class rank and SAT or ACT scores. There will be 103 Trustees' Scholars (up from 102), 179 President's Scholars (up from 123), 199 Provost's Scholars (up from 162), and 43 Provost's Special Scholars (up from 23).
The increase in President's Scholars is particularly good news, Conley said, since admissions activities targeted potential President's Scholars with interest in selected majors. President's Scholars also must be in the top 10 percent of their class and score at least 1400 on the SAT or 33 on the ACT.
"They're a better measure of how our combination of financial aid and program attraction have an impact," Conley said. "Schools just below us often target them for their full-tuition scholarships."