This is the cynic in me, but I don’t think OSU cares what the perception is.
There are likely enough people applying that the few people who won’t apply over the direct admission question are barely a blip on the radar. People apply to non-direct admission programs all the time, which means universities can basically over-enroll the major for freshmen year and then weed it out for sophomore year.
I talked to a nursing dean on a summer tour and she said she doesn’t like non-direct admit programs (hers is a DA) because they foster competition instead of cooperation. My daughter’s program (University of Cincinnati) went DA in the last five years or so.
There might be a trend towards DA, I don’t know. But there isn’t much incentive for a direct admit program if kids will still apply no matter what.
@Banker1 I look forward to hearing what you find out … maybe when someone looks them in the eye and asks, they will say one way or another.