Application Inflation and the U of C

[newmassdad]

<p>JHS,</p>

<p>I guess I did not interpret comments about how Chicago went from a quirky place with a quirky application that turned off a lot of students to one with a more mainstream applicant friendly place to be a criticism of the approach. </p>

<p>

[quote]
“It’s not that we weren’t getting students of quality that we wanted, because we were — they were terrific,” says John W. Boyer, dean of the college since 1992. “But we still had the feeling that, as much progress as we were making, there were still a lot of people out there who had these older images of the place. We were not using our admissions office to the maximum degree to say what the college was to the American people.” /quote]

Chicago officials have cited many reasons for this year’s application explosion, including the popularity of President Obama, who taught at the university. But some credit should go to Royall & Company, a direct-marketing firm hired last spring to help conduct an expansive recruitment campaign. This included a series of short e-mails sent in rapid succession; some students received nearly 20 in all. This year, Royall’s clients averaged a 7 percent increase in applicants.</p>

<p>To each applicant, Chicago assigns a “fit” rating based on holistic measures — say, intellectual curiosity or evidence that a student applied a favorite subject to life. This year it admitted more top students with high ratings than in the past, according to Mr. Nondorf. “The number of applications reflects something, but they’re not necessarily what we’re after,” he says. “Crafting a better educational experience through a better class is the goal.”

Such talk worries Andre Phillips, who left Chicago last year after two decades as associate director of admissions. “By changing the admissions culture, Chicago has gone in for the quick fix,” he says. “My concern is that the institution is marketing itself as something it isn’t.”

</p>

<p>Only the last could be remotely interpreted as critical, and most would argue that it was there for balance. </p>

<p>I suppose you’re right. It got the most lines because it’s had the most radical changes with a huge increase in numbers.</p>

<p>BTW, anyone recall the yield numbers over the past few years? Did yield go up or down with the rise in applications?</p>