<p>Would you be kind enough to update the Admissions information you provided on March 30th regarding UR's Class of 2013.</p>
<p>-- number of applications for admission
-- number of acceptances
-- average SATs
-- ED acceptances
-- how those numbers compare to the class of 2012
-- did the national recession help or hurt Richmond's admissions pool? (it may have helped since UR meets full fin. need).
- Any change in anticipated "yield"?
- Any surprises with this year's admissions process or results?
- How do changes in Richmond's numbers for the Class of 2013 compare with reported results at "cross over" schools?</p>
<p>Chasing, I’m not sure where you heard that, but from what I’ve read, the applications this year and last year were exactly the same… roughly 7900 this year, and 7970 last year. I don’t think you can call 70 applications a “dip”.</p>
<p>Last I saw it was within 40 applications of last year’s class, so I’m not sure that I would call that a “dip” either. And to suggest that is the reason Admissions hasn’t responded to the post is pretty dubious. I’m sure they’ll release the numbers when they’re ready.</p>
<p>Curious, though, why UR is not going to the wait list now when their target was 800 students in the incoming class…did they make that target? We would love the stats…</p>
<p>I don’t have all these stats in hand at the present time and couldn’t release them in a detailed way even if I did, so let me just give you the big picture. Our applicant pool was down 1%, (to about 7880) which was not a source of concern for us. We were seeking a larger class than last year but at the present time have we have a sizably larger number of deposits than we had even hoped for. Time will tell how much “summer melt” will reduce the size of the class (when other colleges take people off wait lists and they withdraw from UR) but it will be closer to 900 students than to the 850 we were aiming for. Don’t panic, incoming freshmen, we’ll be able to house you all, because last year’s entering first year class was smaller than desired, and because we opened a new dorm last year. The plan had been to shut down an older dorm for a year of rehab, but that can wait when we’re in this situation (and the dorm is still plenty livable). All this does mean we’re unlikely to need our wait list, but again, if things start “melting” my prediction on this could be off the mark. </p>
<p>The yield improved by about 3.5% over the previous year but we did take more through ED than in the past, so some of that figure is based on higher ED enrollments. This increased yield was the surprise–we’d expected it might go down a bit because of the economic situation, so the good news is that our financial aid packaging really made it possible for more than we predicted to choose UR. So that is something we’re delighted about! I don’t know if the recession helped or hurt us–we’ll certainly be spending more in aid than in the past but that’s OK–we’re happy to do that and can afford it. But I do know there were individual families who didn’t choose UR because of finances when in the past they might have done so, and we hate to lose those folks. The economy hurt them and changed their student’s outcome even if Richmond has a fine class and will be OK. I don’t like how it worked out for some individuals, in other words, more than how it impacted UR. </p>
<p>We’re delighted with the quality and diversity of the class. It will be the most racially and ethnically diverse class in our history (approx. 21% non-white) and we’ve also enrolled the highest number (54) of international students in our history (but probably not percentage-wise given the larger denominator). About 20% are also first-generation college (that figure inevitably includes some cross-over with the previous two populations, so you can’t just add them all together or you’ll double count some people). </p>
<p>I don’t know much about what happened at our cross-over schools this early, but lots of them do appear to be going to their wait lists. They were perhaps more conservative on the front end when making their offers. I hope this helps!</p>
<p>P.S. to Investor–that profile on the website is LAST year’s entering class profile, not this year’s. We won’t post the new stats for some time so we can see about the melt.</p>
<p>UR admissions, in your post (see below) in April, you stated the school was looking for a class of 800. Taking 900 does pose a concern for us…housing for over 100 more students? Class sizes? Advisee groups? I can see where you might lose a few to summer melt, but that number certainly could not be significant. I know you say you won’t shut down the older dorm for rehab, but does that dorm hold 100 students? </p>
<p>“These are all legitimate questions. This year we had almost 7900 applications and are looking for a first year class of about 800.”</p>
<p>Investor, Jeter holds well over 100. I really don’t think having 100 extra freshmen is that big of a deal. That probably translates to one more per class or one more student per advisor, something that shouldn’t be a concern.</p>
<p>well, i do not mean to sound negative spiders, but after such carefully controlled growth over the years, and such significant increase in rankings in many areas, I just hate to see “too much too fast” as far as growth is concerned. Obviously the school was worried about the economy and obviously admitted more than they did in previous years in anticipation of a lower yield…I guess the good news is, their yield was strong. I remain concerned about the goal that admissions had clearly stated, which was “800” …and now they find they have 900 (and I would venture to guess admissions rounded down when quoting that number, not up…) who accepted their offer. In any event, is Jeter the dorm they were closing for renovation? Hope our D doesn’t get that one, LOL.</p>
<p>investor: last year, UR only matriculated 740 Frosh (according to the common data set), so there is plenty of space (unless they accept a LOT of transfers).</p>
<p>No panic needed. Last year’s class was smaller than desired, so this is not an issue of “controlled growth”, but in a way correcting for last year’s smaller class. Yes, we’ve ended up in an “overcorrected” situation, but really, we’ve got the summer to prepare for it. We’ll be adding some sections of courses commonly taken by first year students in order to protect our small class sections and we have plenty of room on campus. Advisors who had smaller advisee groups last year will have slightly larger ones this year, but really, your students will still receive plenty of personal attention. We’re not going to compromise that. Even if (and I don’t know that this would happen, I haven’t done the math) our student faculty ration were to increase from 8:1 to 9:1, that’s still incredibly good. We’re all working hard to be ready for the class, so no worries, please.</p>
<p>Going from 800 to 900 sounds a lot bigger than going from around 2800 to around 2900 overall, which is the true situation since you’re not only surrounded by/taking classes with people in your year, but rather the entire student body. 8:1 student/faculty ratio = 2800:350, in bigger terms. 2900:350 = 8.2 students to every faculty member.</p>
<p>That could be flawed since I don’t know exactly how you calculate it but either way, I think we’ll be okay ;)</p>
<p>How does UR correct the overcorrection going forward? What are the implications for next year’s class? Will the size of the class entering Fall 2010 of necessity drop back to 750ish?</p>
<p>I don’t know that we’ve determined what this will mean for subsequent years, but I would be very surprised for us to aim as low as 750 routinely. A more realistic possibility is 800. However, I know that we’ll be very sensitive to keeping enrollment at a level where we can accommodate all first-year students (and most upperclass students too) in campus housing (that is, of those who wish to be housed, which is typically 99% of first years and about 92% overall) and not overwhelm any of our academic infrastructure. </p>
<p>I hope that those of you who like “inside baseball” on this issue will read an article from the Chronicle of Higher Education this week, but I’m not sure if their content is available to non-subscribers. Perhaps if you go in through a library that subscribes to do the search you’ll have access to it. It is called “This Year, Colleges Recruited Students in a Hall of Mirrors” in the May 29 edition. Here’s the link: [The</a> Chronicle of Higher Education](<a href=“http://chronicle.com/weekly/v55/i38/38a00102.htm]The”>http://chronicle.com/weekly/v55/i38/38a00102.htm). Maybe it will give you more context into just what a challenge it was this year for all kinds of schools. </p>
<p>The bottom line is that Richmond is committed to excellence and the quality of the student experience, and happily, we have the resources to protect that, even in these challenging times. No one here is ever going to increase the class sizes dramatically because it is antithetical to our promises to our students and families. What the particulars of how this will play out for next year is not something we’re ready to discuss just yet (if anyone is discussing it already, I’m not aware of it), but you can be sure our values are not going to change.</p>
<p>Thank you for your above considered responses. Your contributions to this site should serve as proof to those not familiar with UR that indeed the Administration is approachable and easy to deal with.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>How did the 1% drop in applications compare with peer schools. A friends have told me that applications at their schools dropped by over 1000s of applications. </p></li>
<li><p>How did Nancy Tessier work out her 1st year? (Having asked that question I guess I should not expect you to be anything but complimentary to a V.P.) I spoke to Vice Prez Tessier during the 1st semester and I came away impressed that she had fresh ideas on how to expand Richmond’s name recognition beyond traditional areas and applicant groups. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Otis, I’m glad it has been helpful to you and others for me to contribute to the conversation here on CC. I’ve learned a lot from all of you as well, so it really is a mutually beneficial exchange in my opinion. </p>
<p>App numbers were all over the board this year. Some way up, some way down. I haven’t studied it closely to be honest. </p>
<p>I’m glad you feel good about the direction in which Nanci is hoping to take UR from the conversation you had with her.</p>