Admission and Financial Aid Committee Minutes -- February 7, 2005

Sumner provided a summary of the current (as of Feb. 7, 2005 at 9 AM) admission cycle to date pointing out the following;

Early Decision applications are up 11.2%.

Total applications are up 9%.

Applications received that are beyond Part I are up 10%.

Applications from students of color are up 12% overall, up 23% for Latina/Latino students and 24% for Asian-Am. students. Applications are down slightly for Native-Am. students and African-Am. students. International student applications are up 6% over last year at this time.

The mean SAT and ACT for deposited (committed) students is1387 this year compared to a year end mean of 1390 last year (SAT), and 30.5 this year compared to a small bit less last year (ACT). 100% of deposited students thus far fall in the top 20% of their graduation high school class.

Applications are up in the following states (+ the Dist. Of Columbia); MD, NY, PA, IN, MI, MN, MO, NB, ND, WI, ME, VT, AL, FL, LA, AZ, ID, MT & NM.

A discussion followed concerning the possibility of increasing the Advance Deposit required for an admitted applicant to hold her spot in the entering class. It is now at $200 compared to an average of $300 for our peer colleges, for comparative purposes. The range in that group of 12 colleges is from $150 at Colorado C. to $500 at Washington & Lee U. The only reason to increase the amount would be to reduce the number of students who pay the deposit (thereby tying up scholarship and financial aid dollars as well as a spot it the entering class) and do not enroll. Sumner provided a chart showing that that number has been 27, 27, 26, 39, and 29 for the last 5 years. The Committee agreed that the topic is worthy of further discussion and asked Sumner to; (A) determine if incomplete financial aid files and unpaid comp. fee payments (data already available here at the College) might enable us to better predict no-shows, and (B) to contact 1 or more colleges that do not require a deposit and determine their no-show rate.

AGENDA for MAR. MEETING: Overview of admission & financial aid planning, recent past and present.

J. Sumner