<p>The figures say Brandeis accepted 700 more students this year than last. It did say it would accept more students, so that’s no shock. But it makes me wonder… if the yield remains at a historic 25% or so, that’s another 150 or so kids. It makes me wonder, given the small campus, where everyone’s going to be housed. Has anyone heard rumors of any housing plans?</p>
<p>Maybe they found themselves going to the wait list a lot and increased the number admitted in response?</p>
<p>They already have an over-crowding problem. That was the purpose of the Justice Brandeis Semester originally–to relieve over-crowding on campus–although it didn’t wind up working out that way. </p>
<p>I know they were intending to increase class size to generate some revenue, but that is a lot of extra kids.</p>
<p>theres about 750 kids in each class. I really dont think brandeis accepted 700 additional people. where did you get this information?</p>
<p>[Admissions</a> Figures on Elon, Harvey Mudd, Brandeis and Nearly 100 Other Colleges - NYTimes.com](<a href=“Admissions Figures on Elon, Harvey Mudd, Brandeis and Nearly 100 Other Colleges - The New York Times”>Admissions Figures on Elon, Harvey Mudd, Brandeis and Nearly 100 Other Colleges - The New York Times)</p>
<p>They accepted 3,444 applicants, up from 2746 last year.</p>
<p>According to the Brandeis Common Data Set, the entering class of 2009 had about the same number admitted as the class entering in 2010, and they wound up taking a big chunk from the waiting list to fill the class. You’d think they might have adjusted the admission # upward last year, but they didn’t…so maybe they were hoping to fill the class w/o going to the wait-list?
<a href=“http://www.brandeis.edu/institutionalresearch/2009pdfs/CDS2009_2010.pdf[/url]”>http://www.brandeis.edu/institutionalresearch/2009pdfs/CDS2009_2010.pdf</a></p>
<p>They’re creating more lofted triples.</p>
<p>No overcrowding issue. Likely a shift from the waitlist as earlier mentioned. Even with a modest increase in class size, it’s notable that the total Brandeis applications were 9000, about a 16% increase over last year. That trend bodes well for yielding an excellent class now and in the future, especially as Brandeis’ popularity and selectivity continues to increase. You might look at Brandeis as an undervalued stock. U Chicago was in a similar position for many years until its applications increased dramatically only recently.</p>
<p>As someone who goes to Brandeis, and had to deal with the horrendous housing lottery, I can tell you that Brandeis may not have any issues for freshmen, but will have astronomical issues housing those students the next year. Friendships are broken during the process. Ask any upperclassmen at the school. </p>
<p>Rumor on the street is that the school is trying to expand (i.e. current freshman class is 100 more than any before). And they accepted more, with roughly a 25-30% yield, so roughly 900-1000 kids in next years class. However, they have yet to build any more dorms… It makes no sense, but that’s Brandeis for you.</p>
<p>Sorry, I just laughed when I saw this post, and thought I’d respond.</p>
<p>I don’t believe that type of class expansion is at all accurate. 800 in a class is more like it, which is a marginal expansion.</p>
<p>Don’t take me for my word. It’s just what I heard. </p>
<p>[Upward</a> and onward: First-years arrive on campus | BrandeisNOW](<a href=“http://www.brandeis.edu/now/2010/august/movin.html]Upward”>Upward and onward: First-years arrive on campus | BrandeisNOW)</p>
<p>761 freshmen started in the fall this year, and a mid-year I know said there were roughly 140 mid-years. Obviously people drop out and transfer, but that’s still a very large number.</p>
<p>Edit: I don’t think the yield will go down that much, either. I mean, it’s understandable why people would apply to Brandeis, so I don’t know why the school decided to accept so many more students.</p>
<p>Instead of speculating, the facts should soon be available from the Admissions office. The appearance of increased acceptance rate for the class of 2015 is likely a shift from the wait list, not resulting in an increase in enrollment. Appproximately one hundred mid years may add to total enrollment on paper, but if they replace Juniors who are away on a year abroad, then, any potential overcrowding is relieved. Let’s face it, whether the freshman class is 800, 850 or 900, the total population is still athe smallest I believe of any major research university with the exception of Cal Tech. Sorry you had a bad experience with the housing lottery.</p>
<p>Maybe someone at today’s admitted students day program will ask and report back.</p>
<p>I know that campus crowding has been mentioned in the student newspaper a number of times, and some students campaigning for student government last spring included issues related to campus crowding in their platforms. I don’t go to Brandeis, so of course I don’t know first-hand, but I read about kids having difficulty finding space in the library to study, long lines in the dining halls, and whatnot, which seemed to be new problems for the school.</p>
<p>Yes, it’s a small class, but if it’s bigger than they are set up to accommodate, the benefits are tempered by that issue. If you happen to be someone who gets stressed out by things like whether or not you can find a seat in the dining hall or a desk in the library or a seat on the BranVan, you might be influenced one way or another by the increase in class size. If not, great.</p>
<p>Here’s the article about the planned increase in class size. It started with the Class of 2013 and is continuing over 5 years.
<a href=“http://media.www.thejustice.org/media/storage/paper573/news/2009/09/08/News/Target.Student.Increase.Exceeded-3765019.shtml[/url]”>http://media.www.thejustice.org/media/storage/paper573/news/2009/09/08/News/Target.Student.Increase.Exceeded-3765019.shtml</a></p>
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<p>Believe it. I was at the Admitted Students Day this morning, where Mark Spencer said, word for word, that he’d been tasked with enrolling a freshman class of 855. That’s an expansion of nearly 15%.</p>
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<p>I asked the housing people about this. They said the 855 does not count mid-years; it’s 855 for fall 2011. They didn’t seem pleased to be asked the question, really. Not that I blame them; if I were they, I wouldn’t be pleased to be asked, either. The 855 is going to require a lot more lofted triples than they’ve had in previous years. </p>
<p>Honestly, I think Brandeis is deceiving itself a little bit about the effect that expanding freshman class size will have on resources. Either that, or they’re deceiving incoming students and their families. They’re still saying things like, “Freshmen and sophomores are guaranteed on-campus housing, and although we don’t guarantee it, we can accommodate all the juniors and seniors who want to live on campus.” Historically, yes. But what will happen when the Class of 2015 are juniors? And I assume it’s not just this one class that the University plans to enlarge. What will happen when the entire undergraduate population has grown by 15%? Will there be 15% more seats and desks in the library? More square feet in classrooms? More professors? More foodservice capacity? No. (Every session I saw at the Admitted Students Day had more people in attendance than chairs, and people spilling out into the halls. It was crowded!) More bandwidth and server capacity? Maybe.</p>
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<p>This may be factually true, but I’m inclined to agree that it’s really not relevant if the population is 15% larger than the infrastructure can comfortably support.</p>
<p>Sikorsky, I’m not sure why you are speculating about overcrowding. Other than an anecdote about no seats in the library at exam time and someone disappointed with their lottery housing assignment, I don’t see a factual basis for it. With 235 acres and over 100 buildings, I’m not sure why you think 100 more freshman, or even 400 more total students would have a material impact on Brandeis students–remembering as well that many students at a given time are studying abroad. How do you know that there isn’t already room for expansion or plans for creating more space if it becomes necessary? If the housing office says that housing is guaranteed, I see no factual basis to disbelieve them. The “crowds” you saw on admitted students day are a good thing. It shows the increasing popularity of Brandeis, which doesn’t necessarily translate into too many students enrolled. Again we’re talking really small numbers here compared to other major univerisites–many of which, BTW, do not guarantee on -campus housing for undergrads as Brandeis does. Brandeis has a high quality of student life, and, I assume, you’re considering sending your S or D to Brandeis because of that. If you’re concerned that status is in jeopardy by virtue of modest student body expansion, you should get more facts rather than speculate.</p>
<p>I’m speculating about overcrowding because I think it’s going to be a problem.</p>
<p>I don’t see how my scenario is any more ridiculous than speculating that the campus resources–the buildings, the classrooms, the dining facilities, etc.–will be somehow magically elastic.</p>
<p>As for housing, I’m reporting what the people from the folks from the Department of Community Living said and didn’t say. They said that freshmen and sophomores are guaranteed housing on campus (which, actually, is what a huge number of universities do). They said that housing next year’s seniors will mean more lofted triples than in the past. They said that in the past they’ve always housed juniors and seniors who wanted to live on campus. They did not say a word about reconciling the increase in class size with being able to house the Class of 2015 when they are juniors and seniors. They did not say a word about expanding facilities to match the expanding population.</p>
<p>I don’t think it is speculation, because people have been talking about Brandeis campus crowding (lack of study space, lines in cafeterias, need for more BranVans, etc) for a couple of years. I know this because I have had my eye on Brandeis for some time and I read the student newspapers online. There are candidates for student government who identified crowding as the top issue in their campaigns. According to the faculty, the Justice Brandeis Semester was developed as a response to crowding on campus.</p>
<p>[The</a> Brandeis Hoot Univ. hopes to help overcrowding with renovations but has no solid plans](<a href=“http://thebrandeishoot.com/articles/6543]The”>http://thebrandeishoot.com/articles/6543)
[The</a> Brandeis Hoot Jaffe announces new JBS objective](<a href=“http://thebrandeishoot.com/articles/9598]The”>The Brandeis Hoot – Archive » Jaffe announces new JBS objective)
[The</a> Brandeis Hoot Acheampong next Union pres.](<a href=“http://thebrandeishoot.com/articles/7810]The”>The Brandeis Hoot – Archive » Acheampong next Union pres.)</p>
<p>Again, this may be a trivial issue. Maybe every campus complains about this. Maybe some people don’t mind this type of problem. But for those who are sensitive to this type of issue, it’s probably good to know that Brandeis is increasing undergraduate enrollment by 400 students over 5 years, that they are in the middle of the process, and that, therefore, someone who went to Brandeis even 5 years ago had a different experience than an entering freshman would have today.</p>
<p>I said:</p>
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<p>Sorry about this. I meant to say “next year’s freshmen,” but didn’t find this error until it was too late to edit. And now the correction is conveniently located on a different page.</p>
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<p>Note to self: no more posting before 8:00 a.m.</p>
<p>In 2008, Usen and Scheffres, both freshmen halls in Massell and North Quad respectively. Were not used to house freshmen; Usen was undergoing renovation, and Schefrres was used for Sophomore housing. The school aimed for a matriculation of 728 students, with only 6 of the 8 freshmen halls. Now that all 8 out of 8 are in use, an increase of around 125 more students for the incoming class is trivial. </p>
<p>[University</a> plans to decrease first-year enrollment - News](<a href=“http://media.www.thejustice.org/media/storage/paper573/news/2007/03/13/News/University.Plans.To.Decrease.FirstYear.Enrollment-2773330.shtml]University”>http://media.www.thejustice.org/media/storage/paper573/news/2007/03/13/News/University.Plans.To.Decrease.FirstYear.Enrollment-2773330.shtml)</p>
<p>Thanks for clearing that up E123. It would not be in the university’s interest to not plan ahead, as it turns out they did, for this class expansion. That doesn’t mean there won’t be some more triples, but not substantial “overcrowding.” It is fair for students and prospective students at any university to be concerned about that issue. That I believe is what DeskP is seeing reflected in some past Justice articles.</p>