(A) Sumner provided an update on the current admission cycle, focusing on the Early Decision process, the only portion of the admission cycle completed at that time. The number of ED applicants, admits and deposits are up over last year and Sumner estimated that as much as 30% of the entering class could be ED this year, more than ever. He added as a reminder that in light of the College’s decision to firmly cap merit aid, 1 of the ways to protect the size, quality and diversity of the entering class is via increased ED enrollment. He also reported that Regular Decision applications were down a bit compared to last year, but that all arriving applications had not yet been entered into the database,

(B) A discussion followed concerning the fall and spring campus visitation days for prospective and admitted students, and specifically the Faculty Fair portions of those days. The Com. recommended the following; service of coffee, tea and soft drinks for the comfort of all attendees & to encourage everyone to stick around and talk, use of round or thinner tables to help promote conversations, prepared and distributed tip sheets for both participating professors and prospective students (& their families), consideration of morphing the Faculty Fair and the Closing Reception into 1 event, consideration of area sessions organized around the academic groups represented in the admission academic brochures during the day’s program (offered more than once per day), reduction of tours especially for the April yield programs, no changes until we move into the Rosenfield Center next fall, and tweaked formats for the fall vs. the spring programs,

(C) Need-sensitive admission of wait listed students; time was short for this topic but it was discussed briefly and with an eye towards resolution at the March or April meeting, and

(D) The meeting was adjourned at 1:05 PM.

--Jim Sumner