<p>I think next year they will have an easy time upping the totals to 50-50 M/F.</p>
<p>Barrons, I think getting to 50-50 next year is probably unrealistic. Heck, 20+ years after going coed schools like Vassar, Skidmore, Wheaton and Goucher haven't reached 50-50. Actually, very few liberal arts colleges are managing to keep a 50-50 gender ratio these days. But, this is still good news for RMWC --they're a good solid school, and it's nice to see them having positive results after all the controversy regarding going co-ed.</p>
<p>This years class was 33% men. I do think they could hit 50% for next year's class given much more marketing time, etc than they really had this year. It will take longer for the entire school to be 50-50 or so. Maybe45/55 longer term as good men are scarcer. ;-). I think Lynchburg College is about 45/55 and they have been coed much much longer.</p>
<p>Is the overall student population any larger? I've read good reviews and opinions of RMWC but for many potential applicants, the small size of the college was not what they were looking for.</p>
<p>I don't think it's a success story. 172 is a very small class for R-MWC, and as Randolph College they were planning to exceed previous enrollment. In fact, this was a crucial part of their strategy in going co-ed.</p>
<p>The total full-time enrollment is about 700 so 172 is just under a quarter of that. The decision to reduce aid probably cost them a few students but I think they accomplished most of their first year goals.</p>
<p>I have a fine Smithfield Ham that says they will get 200+ next year as the fine-tune the marketing and people see some men on campus on the tours.</p>
<p>They would be aiming for more than 1/4 of the total, because they have retention issues common to institutions of their selectivity/type. </p>
<p>When I worked in admissions, freshmen classes under 180 were a crisis. Yes, less aid paid out will help, but I think they're still probably off from their goal by a good margin. I haven't talked to my colleague in the office for a few months, so I don't know what their goal was (and it may not be for public consumption, in any event) but I am almost certain that given the Strategic Plan, they had a higher goal than 172, possibly by quite a margin.</p>
<p>You have no idea how long its been since I've had a good Smithfield ham.</p>
<p>You probably are right on the total target being missed. Perhaps they can backfill with male/female transfers in now that the die has been cast to be coed. They have to know it will be a process to get enrollment increasing again. Next year will be key.</p>
<p>What I've noticed in the smaller all-female and less well-known schools that have gone coed is that it takes a year or two for there to be enough of a critical mass of males onboard in order to really start filling the seats with males. I've also found that it newly coed schools can be a hard sell to males until male sports teams are in place. Do either of you know if RMWC has any plans in that regard?</p>
<p>As I understand it, they plan to add men's sports as quickly as they can.</p>
<p>The NYT and other outlets have been reporting on the college's move to sell or leverage parts of their outstanding art collection.</p>
<p>Well, RMWC can take heart from the example of one of their sisters, Hood College in Maryland. Hood's transition from all-woman to co-ed worked very well. Hood's a fine little place with strong academics, particularly in the life sciences.</p>
<p>Actually, many R-MWC watchers are concerned that it will have an experience similar to Hood's. Hood has increased its enrollment but has increasingly become a regional school and seems to have traded geographic diversity for gender diversity. I believe Hood has also seen a marked increase in problems with both its Social Honor Code and Academic Honor Code, and has seen the quality of its class go down slightly.</p>
<p>I'm not slamming Hood as an institution; I'm sure its academic merits are as you say. But some people think Hood has lost ground in important ways since it went co-ed, and I believe R-MWC fans don't want to see Randolph College go that same way.</p>