2008 Woodie Awards
Rejection rate highest ever
School admits better qualified students as apps continue to rise
Benjamin Pomerance
Issue date: 9/21/07 Section: News
Originally published: 9/20/07 at 6:37 PM EST
Last update: 9/20/07 at 9:30 PM EST
"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.
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.
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