Plattsburgh State President John Ettling couldn't help but smile when he heard the news.
PSUC accepted a record-setting low 49.4 percent of applicants for the incoming class of 2007. The numbers represent a more than 13 percent drop in acceptance in just two years.
Somehow, rejection never felt so good.
"The bottom line is that the numbers are good," Ettling said. "In fact, they're very good. This means that Plattsburgh State has reached a level where we can mold our entering class in the image we want. When we're admitting less than half of the people who apply here, it sends a message that an acceptance at Plattsburgh is not something to be taken lightly."
But the rejections have come as applications have continued to rise. The school received 9,139 applications for admission to the class - the third straight year that PSUC's admissions office saw an increase of more than 1,000 applicants.
Even lower than the general freshman rejection rate is that for true freshman applicants - meaning those who aren't transfers. Only 46.5 percent were accepted to the 980-student class, Director of Admissions Richard Higgins and Provost Robert Golden announced during a presentation this month.
Transfer students made up the rest of first-year pupils, with the college accepting 1,061 transfers from the 1,776 applications received.
Of the 3,936 students offered admission by PSUC, approximately 30 percent actually enrolled at the college, a rate slightly below PSUC's average enrollment yield.
Higgins said he believed this to be a result of PSUC's increased selectivity.
"If you accept higher-caliber students, they'll have more options of where they can go," Higgins explained. "Some of these students got into five, six, even seven very competitive schools. Some of them picked Plattsburgh, others chose to go elsewhere."
Two years ago, the college's vital signs were drastically different. Faced with a record-setting wave of 7,254 Cardinal hopefuls, the college admitted 62.8 percent of the applicants to the freshman class. Higgins believes the sudden campus population boom spurred many administrators to rethink the objectives of their admissions policy.
"Obviously, you can't just say that we're going to admit a certain number of students, and hit the bulls-eye every time," Higgins said. "But some of these numbers, especially the sudden jump in applications, made us sit down and ask ourselves how we could make some changes in our future entering classes."
One year later, the number of applications to PSUC increased again, jumping to 8,332. Only 56 percent of these applicants were granted admission, the first step in a long-term plan designed to make the college a more selective place.
According to Higgins, even greater selectivity was the goal.
"Our target was an entering class of 975 students," the Director of Admissions explained, "but when all of the acceptances finally came in, we realized our freshman class was closer to 1,100. We couldn't just turn around and deny entrance to people we had already admitted. More people accepted our offer of admissions than we had anticipated. That's not a bad thing."
In spring of 2007, Higgins said, PSUC leaders were determined to stick by their promises. Even though the admissions office received over 1,000 more applications than they had received the previous year - topping off a 26 percent overall increase in applications from 2005 to 2007 - the size of the entering class was exactly where the administration wanted it.
Yet Higgins is quick to point out the strength of this year's freshman class goes well beyond increased admissions standards. He points to a mean high school grade point average of 87.4 in this year's freshman class, up from an 86.0 mean GPA for the freshman class of 2005. He points to a mean combined SAT score of 1071, an average increase of 17 points in that same two-year timeframe. He points to the 16% of freshmen who come from "minority and diverse backgrounds," and the 114 international students from 29 countries who are part of this year's freshman class.
The numbers, Higgins said, speak for themselves.
"We have a freshman class that is smaller than before, but one that is also more selective and diverse than before," Higgins said. "No matter what criteria you use, the point is clear: SUNY Plattsburgh's fall 2007 class is by far the strongest of any in its recent history."
Still, PSUC's administration has no plans to rest on the laurels of its recent success. Open season on recruitment has already begun, and Ettling hopes to parlay the strength of this year's freshman class into an even greater number of applications for the coming year.
"We have a good thing happening here," the visibly proud president said, "and we want to keep making it better. I can promise you that we aren't letting any grass grow under our feet. We want to spread the word that Plattsburgh is a good place to go, that quality students come here and that this institution turns out productive and successful members of society."
According to Higgins, the secret to campus success lies in the students who are already here.
"Spread the word," Higgins said. "If you like this institution, pass that along. Tell people that this place deserves more credit than it often receives, and show them the numbers we now have to back that up." He stopped abruptly, a declaration of a bright future teetering on the tip of his tongue. "That's what we need - quality students of today bringing in the quality students of tomorrow."
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