| U of M Alumni Association | U of M Twin Cities |
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5/12/2003I love the pre-dawn hours, when I’m alone in the alumni association offices and can work uninterrupted for quiet blocks of time. So, busy at work very early one recent morning, when my computer chimed to let me know that an e-mail had arrived, I thought I must have a kindred spirit out there. When I clicked on the message, however, my heart sank. It was from a distraught alumnus. "I follow the U of M like many folks follow the Twins, not as a devout fan but as one who cares about the hometown team and tries to keep up on how they’re doing. This year my loyalty to the hometown team was challenged," he wrote. "This year my daughter applied to the U and was denied admission. . . . It was a heartbreaking letdown for her and painful for me, as well." In the past few months, I have received many similar letters and e-mails from alumni association members who say they are bitter or disillusioned by the U’s admissions policy. Many attended the U when there was a relatively open admissions policy. And as late as 1992, admission stayed open until September of the new school year. The U is a vastly different place today. The Twin Cities campus has undergone a physical transformation. The University guarantees on-campus housing to all freshmen, and 77 percent take up the offer. New-student orientation, new-student convocation, and freshmen seminars have made the Twin Cities campus a friendly and desirable place to be. Students are telling other students, "You’ll be lucky to be admitted." And it’s true: The days of the U of M as a fallback option are a fading memory. Wayne Sigler, director of admissions at the University for the past decade, says that a record number of more than 17,200 applications were received for fall 2003. But the University has the resources to provide a high-quality educational experience for a freshman class of 5,200. While the U has initially accepted 11,000 applicants, the tough reality is that more than 6,000 students are receiving letters telling them that there won’t be a place for them in the U’s class of 2007. "It’s a bittersweet situation," says Sigler. "As an institution, we’ve worked so hard to be popular with prospective students. We’re absolutely thrilled with the number of qualified applications that we receive. But it means that we need to tell many students that they will not be admitted. "The way that we sleep at night," Sigler continues, "is that we have done our utmost to ensure that we have been fair, consistent, careful, and honorable in the way that we review applications." The University uses a holistic assessment in its admissions process, giving the greatest weight to the academic record. The U also considers secondary factors, such as demonstration of leadership, rigor of the curriculum, special skills and talents, and extenuating circumstances. Sigler confirms that an applicant’s links to alumni are factored in, but academic preparedness carries the most weight and is the greatest indicator of success. The University’s eight freshman-admitting colleges are attracting the best and the brightest. For the fall of 2003, the average academic profile of freshmen admits at the Carlson School of Management is an ACT score of 28.3 and high school rank of 93.9. At the College of Liberal Arts the average profile is an ACT score of 25.9 and high school rank of 86.1. What’s more, Sigler says that the U is perceived as an outstanding value. In 2002–03, the annual cost for in-state students was approximately $12,000 for tuition, fees, and room and board at the University of Minnesota. This compares with costs of $27,000 to $32,500 at some Minnesota private colleges. Sigler has some advice for prospective University students and their parents. First, he says, students need to aspire to attend the U of M when they are in the sixth or seventh grade. Students should take as many academically challenging courses as they can reasonably handle. And they should enroll in elective courses that challenge their critical thinking. If a junior or a senior in high school is not a strong candidate for U of M admission, Sigler recommends that he or she consider transferring to the University. The Minnesota Cooperative Admissions Program—an arrangement between the Twin Cities campus and community colleges in the metro area—assures admission to the University after certain criteria are met. "Our staff provides excellent assistance to students seeking to transfer, and each year 2,000 students transfer to the University," Sigler says. "Admissions officers hate to deny admission," he continues. "They don’t get into the business to say no." But while they have to say no to more applicants than ever before, they also get to say yes to more highly qualified applicants more than ever before. Our alumni have wholeheartedly supported and even demanded excellence at the University. The strength of our undergraduate classes is one important piece of that excellence. I would be thrilled if the children, grandchildren, or siblings of University alumni were always the most qualified prospective students, but we know that the reality is different, admissions is so very competitive. If you know young people considering the U, I encourage you to spread the word about how the University has changed, why that is a good thing, and that the U is something to aim for, not fall back on. | |||||||||||||
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