Only a few weeks remain until members of the UR Class of 2012 will be receiving their letters, telling them whether or not they have been accepted to the University. This year, UR received about 11,500 applications for freshman admission.
“As of today [March 3], UR has attracted 236 enrollment deposits from Early Decision offers,” Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Jonathan Burdick said. “I haven’t yet heard from everyone who has an offer, but so far it looks like the ED class of 2012 should be a little bigger than last year, by about five students.”
Current UR students should expect the Class of 2012 to be the same size as the Class of 2011. However, there is one seemingly large difference.
“[The class] can spread out through a larger dorm space as upperclassmen move over to Riverview,” Burdick said. He continued to speak about the incoming class.
“I’m seeing a few more women than men. SAT scores and GPA are both up,” Burdick said. “Applications from underrepresented minority students are slightly down, but among that group, the average qualifications, like GPA, SAT, high school AP and IB curriculum, are well up, so admission offers to underrepresented students will be about the same or higher than a year ago.”
Burdick explained that this class is the most competitive yet, keeping with the goal to make UR more selective and prestigious. “My best guess on March 3, 2008 is that the Class of 2012 will be the most competitive UR has ever had. That was also true of the classes of 2011, 2010 and 2009. Meliora!” Burdick said.
Burdick continued to speak about where students in the Class of 2012 are from.
“Applications from the Rochester area, New York downstate and international students are all up quite a bit versus a year ago,” he said. “It’s nice to earn greater attention both in your backyard and around the world.”
It seems that applications from other U.S. states are down slightly. A part of this comes from the addition of application fees.
“Paying the fee seems to have discouraged a few hundred applicants,” Burdick said. “[Or] maybe it’s climate change. They’re worried Rochester will be too hot for them!”
The number of applicants from out of state who are willing to pay the application fee or obtain a legitimate fee waiver, in addition to sending all of their required documents, has risen since last year.
“I believe so far that the number and percentage of out-of-state students enrolling will be about the same or a little higher than a year ago, unless the much larger number of New York state and international applicants are so well qualified that they knock others out of the running,” Burdick said.
Burdick and his staff have worked hard to attract more applicants. This year, Burdick and the Admissions staff have launched new programs with education and engineering professional options and research grants for incoming students. They have expanded aid options for some of the neediest students and have used software that should make the process to apply for aid faster.
“Admissions counselors visited and reached out to more schools and hosted more school counselors on campus,” Burdick said. “Interviews grew both on and off campus with alumni and staff, and the communications group created a whole set of new publications, plus our new videos.”
Burdick continued on to speak about what the University is doing to attract more students.
“It’s not just Admissions and Financial Aid activities that help UR grow,” he said. “The College deans and faculty are busy creating new academic programs that will help us attract larger numbers of students, and the outreach current students are doing themselves plays a huge role.”
Wisch is a member of the class of 2011.
