University Eliminates Automatic Admission

There was a time in the not so distant past when students knew what it took to get into college.  The requirements were explicitly posted for prospective students to find.  There was a clear plateau for enrollment.

That mark, as printed clearly on both the university website and on the lesser used paper application, states the exact requirements for admission.  All that the student needed was a minimum of a 3.4 grade point average (GPA) and 15 college preparatory courses in high school and the student was granted admission.

It was that simple.  That is, until the university announced that they will be eliminating the automatic admission standard for applicants starting in fall of 2012.

Despite scattered reservations, the University of Oregon stands firm on its new change.  The guaranteed admission point will be forever eliminated.  All students will have to submit an application essay along with their test scores and grade point averages.

A number of different reasons were considered when deciding to make the change.  Increasing academic excellence, creating more campus diversity, as well as promoting a well-rounded student body are amongst the chief motives behind the change.

Director of Admissions for the University of Oregon, Brian Henley, was among the primary advocates for this change.  He has been working in the university’s Office of Admissions for the past eight years.  Describing the trend in recent years, Henley said, “Since 2007, we’ve seen a rise in the number of applications from high school students and we hope this continues.”

This change in the admission requirements is the second that the university has made in the past four years.

Henley said, “In 2007, we had an automatic admission requirement of a 3.25 high school GPA and fifteen academic courses.  In fall of 2010, we changed this requirement to a 3.4 high school GPA for automatic admission.  When it came to deciding about the future, instead of adding another higher automatic admission mark, we decided to eliminate that standard, and review each applicant holistically.”

Hearing about changes for admission requirements is something not too unfamiliar to Pacific Northwest schools.  The University of Washington made a similar decision in 2011, when they decided they would accept far less in-state applicants in hopes of receiving more tuition revenue.  Out-of-state students pay nearly three times as much in annual tuition than their in-state peers.

The University of Oregon insists the change wasn’t made for tuition purposes.  Henley said, “We are looking to have our incoming classes be somewhere around the area of 55 percent residents and 45 percent nonresidents.  Again, that is just one portion of what we look for.”

The Oregon University System publishes data based on the fourth week of enrollment of each fall term.  For fall term 2010, the U of O consisted of 59 percent Oregon residents, 34 percent out-of-state residents and seven percent of students were international.   New data is revealed each November.

The numbers that Henley projects are very close to the Eugene campus’ current profile.

Why then, is the change being made?

The primary reason is to fully evaluate each student, and to be able to accept the top applicants.  The change now allows the admission counselors the ability to fully review each student wanting to gain acceptance.  All applicants are now required to write an admissions essay, a task previously only required for those who did not reach the automatic admissions plateau.  When reading these essays, the admissions counselors will be able to get a sense of who the student is and what they will bring to the school, as opposed to merely seeing a grade point average.

This revision will cater well, not only to students who post high GPA marks and test scores, but also to those students who demonstrate skills and abilities that are not measured by numerical references.  These students, who may have previously not been able to be admitted due to automatic slots being filled by applicants with a higher GPA, can now be reviewed with openings available in the freshmen class.

This will theoretically increase both the incoming GPA and the quality of future freshman classes.

This change will benefit both applicants and the university because it will allow for the diversity of campus to grow.  The Office of Admissions will be able to admit students who are not only qualified, but may also be a first-generation college student, from a low-income family, or from an under-represented ethnicity.

According to the Oregon University System data, only 3,723 students, or 16 percent of the student body, at the U of O self-identify as a student of color.

How does that number compare to the Ducks’ foes to the north?  The University of Washington boasts that in fall 2009, 13,374 students, or 31.8 percent of the student body, made up the university’s minority population.  That percentage was nearly double the University of Oregon’s number.

One of the upsides to the change, Henley predicts, is that the University of Oregon too will grow in diversity.

In a state where diversity is low, University of Oregon is at a disadvantage in recruiting multicultural students to Eugene.  According to Rightcode.net, a resource center that maps diversity in the United States, the state of Oregon ranks as the 34^th most diverse state in the country.  Each state was given a diversity index score, which reflects the average probability of encountering an individual of a different race, while factoring in state population density by one percent.  Washington ranked as the 28^th most diverse state.

Jessie Chiem, Student Director of Multicultural Recruitment at the University, sees a lot of this first hand.  Chiem said, “Multicultural recruitment still needs a lot of work, but it is improving. The percentage of admitted students of color and students of diverse backgrounds has increased over the past three years, but it is not enough.”

Chiem stated that her ultimate goal would be to have a campus of about 40 to 50 percent of students with a diverse background.  She said, “Diversity at the UO encompasses many genres including color,
ethnic background, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, and first generation students”

Another goal when accepting students into the university is to create a well-rounded student body.  The goal would be to have accepted students whose interests, talents, and potential range in a number of fields.  The new application process requires that all students write an admissions essay.  By reading these, the admission counselors will be able to accept students who offer more than simply academics to the university.

These essays, which previously only were required from students whom did not meet the automatic admission mark, allows for the counselors to see the type of students that the entire incoming class will include and what they can add to the university.

Currently, the University of Oregon has over 250 student organizations.  With clubs and groups ranging from Student Senate to Geology Club to the Black Student Union, students are always bringing more experiences to the university.  New student groups are always sprouting up as more students are entering the university.

Around campus, very little opposition has been expressed regarding the change to the admissions requirement.  Current students understand that the change will eventually raise the academic prestige of the university.  This will potentially look better when students are searching for jobs, since the opportunities and academics will be more plentiful.

These changes, set to impact students applying for admissions in fall of 2012 and beyond will ultimately raise the academic prestige of the university, raise campus diversity, and enhance the quality of students admitted.  Students of the future will in turn, have the opportunity to elevate the prestige of the university.

Works Cited

“Future & Historical Enrollment | Oregon University System.” OUS | Oregon University System. Web. 31                   May 2011. <http://www.ous.edu/factreport/enroll/futcur&gt;.

“Index of /reptreq/reports.” UW Departments Web Server. Web. 31 May 2011.                   <http://depts.washington.edu/reptreq/reports&gt;.

Long, Katherine. “Local News | Why Straight-A’s May Not Get You into UW This Year | Seattle Times                   Newspaper.” The Seattle Times | Seattle Times Newspaper. Web. 31 May 2011.                   <http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2014670294_admissions03m.html&gt;.

“Mapping Diversity in the United States.” RightCode.net. 2011. Web. 31 May 2011.                   <http://www.rightcode.net/development/beyonddiversity/article.html?id=114253795054397&gt;.

UW Departments Web Server. Web. 31 May 2011.                   <http://depts.washington.edu/reptreq/reports/quick-stats.pdf&gt;.

Contact List

Brian L. Henley

Director of Admissions

University of Oregon

bhenley@uoregon.edu

(541) 346-1289

272E Oregon Hall

1217 University of Oregon

Eugene, OR 97403-1217

Jessie V. Chiem

Ambassador Program and Multicultural Recruitment Student Director

University of Oregon

jchiem1@uoregon.edu

(541) 346-1274

Suite 119 Ford Alumni Center

1720 East 13th

Eugene, OR 97403