So much for the waitlist - the squeeze is on at Syracuse

<p>Just saw this in the morning paper:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.syracuse.com/news/poststandard/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1120898719192720.xml&coll=1%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.syracuse.com/news/poststandard/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1120898719192720.xml&coll=1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>SU had nearly 500 more students than expected accept their offers of admission this year. Major complications w/r/t housing and services will result, of course. This must illustrate the "hot school" concept, don't you think? The new chancellor, Nancy Kantor, had asked admissions to increase enrollment by 100 this year; the unexpected boost in yield means they'll have an incoming freshman class of more than 3500. </p>

<p>According to the article, SAT and GPA standards for admitted students remained the same this year: 3.6 average GPA, 1200 average SATs. </p>

<p>Interesting!</p>

<p>My middle son (rising junior) has expressed some interest in checking out Syracuse because a cousin went there. Are all of the divisions equally selective, or is Newhouse significantly more selective than the rest of the school. Does any one know anything about business or liberal arts there, both as to quality of the programs and selectivity?</p>

<p>I can't quote specific stats, but from what I've heard, Newhouse is considered to be the "ivy" of communications programs, and is therefore much more selective.</p>

<p>Syracuse is known for Newhouse but also has a very selective and well-known program in visual arts.</p>

<p>Just came from Newhouse Open House event. Average SATs start at about 1300 there, everywhere at SU it's 1200.</p>

<p>I don't know what's up but this year, there has been overenrollment at many colleges, higher yields and no waitlist movement at all. Is this a trend?</p>

<p>I wonder about this, too - where is everybody coming from? Will there be a major melt problem once tuition is due - in other words, have many students sent in duplicate deposits? The Syracuse article states that 100-150 students are expected not to show up. I think that's an optimistic figure, and hope administrators aren't counting on it.</p>

<p>On Newhouse: we know two students there quite well, and they've been extremely happy. The summer internship opportunities are incredible - one friend worked at the public TV station in Boston one summer, and was on Jon Stewart's staff the next. Excellent contacts there, and the professors are said to be outstanding. For anyone interested in communications, I'd suggest putting Syracuse high on the list.</p>

<p>I have a solution. The president of Miami University should call the president of Syracuse. "Hi, Nancy. I hear you have 500 freshman too many. I have 200 too few. Our schools have roughly the same admittance criteria and offer many of the same majors. How about if you send me a list of all your admitted freshman. I'll send each a letter inviting him/her to attend Miami - no application required. The first 200 who accept, we'll take. We'll even offer them in-state tuition for the first year."</p>

<p>Students who agreed to go to Miami would get a comparable education, a tuition reduction of about $15,000 their first year, and not have to suffer in overcrowded housing. Miami would fill up their class. Syracuse would not have to scramble to find all that extra housing. It's a winning combination all round.</p>

<p>i doubt many students would agree to that</p>

<p>Boys3x, Admission selectivity varies considerably between the Syracuse schools and between departments within individual schools in some cases. Newhouse is the most selective, then the art school, then engineering, then Arts & Sciences.</p>

<p>I do not see the boost in the numbers of students accepting a place at Syracuse as necessarily indicating Syracuse has now become a "hot" school --- I think it merely reflects the "filter down effect" - many schools at the next rung up in selectivity were tougher this year, so more kids ended up at Syracuse when they didn't get in elsewhere. It's also a matter of numbers - there are simply MORE kids each year applying to schools. </p>

<p>Expect to see more of this at other northeastern schools over the next few years. Notice I said northeastern schools - that is the market I see most saturated. My personal take is that everyone applying to northeastern schools in general would be wise to include at least one or two schools in areas of the country that are still good "admissions values" and aren't yet overly saturated --- i.e., the midwest, the south, the pacific northwest.</p>

<p>kcircsh - It's a joke. Of course, students who are set on going to college just three or four weeks away wouldn't agree to it.</p>

<p>Carolyn</p>

<p>Thanks for the info. Do you know anything about the business school at Syracuse? My son would likely apply to either business or arts& scineces. What kinds of grades/scores do you think would be a "match'?</p>

<p>The overbooking worries me since they may accept a lot of fewer students for next year's class.</p>

<p>I just wonder what the quality of life will be with 500 extra students. Triples? Quadruples in rooms? </p>

<p>We visited SU this summer and I was far more impressed than I expected to be.</p>

<p>I, too, am a little more apprehensive about next year.</p>

<p>Given the news of overacceptances and minimal waitlist movement, I anticipate there will be a backlash next year as adcoms "tinker" with their formulas. Seems like a roller coaster ride to me - up one year, down the next.</p>

<p>Way back in the 70's, when I was a junior transfer student at Syracuse, SU also had a much larger than expected freshman class.. They accomodated all of them by converting all of the dorm lounges and study rooms into dorm rooms and putting 5 or 6 kids in each one. Some transfers also got stuck in these "temporary" rooms. I do seem to remember that they were given a discount on the room cost but it was not much and certainly not enough to make up for the discomfort and inconvenience. It was basically like living in an army barracks, complete with a locker for your clothes and no privacy.</p>

<p>If anyone has a kid going to Syracuse this fall and you haven't yet heard about their housing assignment, it might be worth a call to residence life to ask how they will accomodate the overflow this coming year. I'd be unhappy if my kid were put in this type of situation and maybe saying so upfront might help.</p>

<p>Boys --- The business program is quite good, in my opinion, with loads of internship opportunities right in Syracuse. The business program is not nearly as selective as Newhouse, but somewhat more selective than Arts & Sciences. If his stats are within SU's range, however, he should be fine.</p>

<p>
[quote]
I just wonder what the quality of life will be with 500 extra students. Triples? Quadruples in rooms?</p>

<p>We visited SU this summer and I was far more impressed than I expected to be.</p>

<p>I, too, am a little more apprehensive about next year.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Could be ugly! Expecting 3000 and getting 3500? Not only will housing be messy, but class size and/or class availability will be affected. Bottom line is many students will not get the college experience they felt they signed up for.</p>

<p>I took Carolyn's advice and called Residential Life at Syracuse. There are plans to "permanently" (she said this word several times in my conversation with her) change rooms to accomodate the students. They hope to keep lounges and study rooms intact. And you may not make a request to have a standard double . Room assignments will be out the end of July, beginning of August and there is a reduced room rate if you are in a triple. Triples will have room for a third desk but closet space may be at a premium.</p>

<p>I'm not happy about this at all. So much work all year long to get my son in the school that he will hopefully be happy at and then to find out that res life ,academics and student services will be crowded, under staffed, unavailable, etc.</p>

<p>I heard they expect 100 or so of the 500 not to show up.Overflow may be housed in the on campus hotel (as they do at Miami and other schools) until the inflow gets settled out. Most schools accomodate by using triples or the lounges/study rooms..I wouldnt believe them as far as not converting those rooms.Most times the inflow problems getsettled out by the spring semester though 400 student overflow I imagine would be hard to manage.</p>

<p>They could offer a stipend to students willing to live off campus maybe?</p>