<p>My guess about part of what occurred with the decrease in regular applications to Williams is the addition of a personal essay for the application. If I remember correctly, I believe this was one of the reasons it was included, i.e. they want applicants who really want to attend Williams to apply & who can convey in an essay that they’ll fit. It’s one more step that might give a potential applicant pause to assess whether he or she wants to take the extra time to revise a personal statement to fit Williams question or write a new essay.</p>
<p>Another factor might be that applicants’ families were economizing when it came to visiting. I would guess that with knowing just the basics about Williams, its relatively isolated location is something one would want to investigate before applying. As a counter example, Wesleyan’s number of applicants increased by about 20%. Wesleyan is very close to Yale, Brown, & all the colleges near Boston, which could make it a natural part of a college visit itinerary.</p>
<p>I’m not saying these are the definitive reasons, only that they among others might have contributed to the application numbers.</p>
<p>Williams has only provided ED numbers in a press release. The RD numbers come from an article in the student newspaper. The RD figures are public only because someone at the newspaper contacted admissions for a story. </p>
<p>The press release for ED seems late, in that it’s dated Feb 4, about 6 weeks after ED applicants were notified.</p>
<p>I would also bet that the marginal quality of applications lobbed in because it was easy to push the button is somewhat less than the rest of the pool, so the resultant quality of the accepted group will not realy suffer. Yes, I am sure its nice to have more to pick from (other than the administrative burden as mentioned by Penn), but I’ll be interested to see how each class shapes up from schools experiencing fewer apps…one surrogate measure to check is enrolled SAT average…lets see if affected (selective) schools see a concomitant drop in that stat…I’d bet they don’t, or don’t see a big one at least.</p>
<p>You’re right - I saw the article headline and it was so misleading that I must have switched the source in my mind. Yes, the college hasn’t officially announced its RD numbers, and given that it’s released them through the student paper, I wonder when/if it will.</p>
<p>Tuppence: regarding Wesleyan (post 221), could another reason for their high numbers be that they have a relatively easy application (vs other similar LACs)? I heard that Wesleyan had no, or almost no, required supplements. Though we had not visited, my daughter was planning to apply there if she did not get into her ED school. The easy application was one reason she added it to her list late in the process.</p>
<p>On Williams, in my admittedly amateur experience in following their admissions stats for the past 3 or 4 years, I have generally observed information being publicized through the student newspaper, The Williams Record, and not through official press releases. In the world of admissions transparency, Williams has always struck me a being at the most transparent end of the spectrum, and the timeliness and detail of the newspaper disclosures on admissions far exceed many of its peers. Of course the past 3 or 4 years of Williams admissions have been very bullish years. That’s why the press release on ED growth struck me as a bit funny…it followed an earlier Williams Record article where ED apps weren’t growing, but shrinking. Add in the fact that RD numbers weren’t reported at the same time this year as they have in past years…something is amiss here…its either the editorial staff at the newspaper are not as on the ball as the past, there is spin-factor going on which seems a bit atypical for Williams (but this is not their typical bullish year), or a combination.</p>
<p>Another thing missing in the ED press release from Williams is this year’s admitted student SAT averages. If you go back through past years the SATs are included in every article about ED admissions. Can’t conclude that they went down, but it wouldn’t be a surprise.</p>
<p>333 @ 225-- re: number of Wesleyan applications: What you write makes sense to me.</p>
<p>As for the Williams Record publishing info re: applications, I believe it really depends on the editor(s). </p>
<p>Apart from whether the editor(s) decide to run a story, the Record’s publication dates & change in editorial staff may affect what is published about applications. The editorial board is on a calendar year. The first edition for the new board is one issue published in January when Williams is in Winter Study (WS). (This year it was Jan 21) The next issue seems to come out the 2nd week of classes for the Spring semester. (This year it was Feb 11) If an office of admissions article doesn’t run in the WS issue, then the next opportunity is a few weeks later.</p>
<p>I know that last year when news from the office of admissions was of more personal interest to me because my son was applying to colleges I found it less than straightfoward to get information. One would think that schools would issue press releases, but I don’t recall that being the case.</p>
<p>This year I’m interested more as a civilian, not someone in the trenches of college applications. With this in mind I’m struck by how capricious it is to get information. And, now that it’s over, how when in the trenches one hopes to glean something to alleviate anxiety, which is why I posted administrative minutae about the Williams Record for those who might find it helpful. </p>
<p>Also, we should consider the perspectve of students on campus, how interested are they in application numbers once they matriculate.</p>
<p>But, hmom5, remember that Stanford introduced their financial aid initiative for students from middle income families in February of 2008, after the deadline for application last year. I think much of this year’s 20% increase is students from those middle income families who are very excited that they may indeed be able to afford an education at Stanford. Our experience is that it is the same price for our S to attend Stanford as it would have been for him to attend our state flagship.</p>
<p>Good point gladmom, I’d forgotten that. Brown’s 20% growth is because of newly accepting the common app, so some of the outliers do have explanations.</p>
<p>I think that the Baylor on-line application fee is free. At my Ds school, if a school is a safety and is a free application, it is getting more applicants. I am not certain what there rationale is, do they actually get more kids to accept.</p>
<p>Texas A&M has more than 26,000 freshman applicants for the upcoming fall semester, more than 6 percent over last year’s freshman pool and a school record, officials said this week.</p>
<p>At the University of Texas at Austin, about 30,900 would-be freshmen applied before the Jan. 21 deadline. That is about 6 percent more freshman applications than last year, said Kedra Ishop, the university’s associate director of admissions. The university typically sees a 3 percent or 4 percent increase every year, she said.</p>
<p>“Our concern is more about who will actually come, not whether they spent money on an application fee,” Ishop said. “We have to bring them into the class – that’s the next step. … There are a lot of factors beyond our control. Then it does become about the economy.”</p>
<p>so am I. despite the consensus on this thread that it’s due to a lack of required supplemental essays on its Common Application, the fact remains that was the situation last year, the year before that, and, the year before that. something had to spark a particular interest in Wesleyan this year.</p>
<p>Re: Baylor. This past year, Baylor paid already-ADMITTED students if they retook the SAT and raised their scores. It appears that Baylor is trying hard to improve its US News rating and I would assume that removing the application fee and sending repeated encouraging emails is part and parcel of trying to appear more exclusive when the school then rejects many of the new applicants.</p>