Courting admits not uncommon

Author: Anthony Adragna

Following an announcement at last week's faculty meeting that the College would provide free trips to campus for highly qualified applicants, the Office of Admission explained how the program would benefit Middlebury, and said that free visits are already offered at a number of other shcools.

Dean of Admissions Bob Clagett said the College's offer of a trip to campus is a relatively common program.

"Many colleges have these programs," he said. "Carleton does and so do other colleges that are a little farther away from major metropolitan areas, like Middlebury, so it's not at all unusual. It's actually been going on for quite a while."

Dean of Admissions at Hamilton College Monica Inzer said her school does not have a formal program like Middlebury's but does occasionally offer students trips to campus.

"There are times that the Hamilton Admission Office offers 'travel scholarships' for select groups to come to visit our campus - sometimes to decide whether or not to apply, and sometimes for targeted admitted groups," she wrote in an e-mail. "We assess our needs each year and make decisions according to our enrollment priorities."

Cliff Thornton, associate dean of admisson at Wesleyan University, said his office regularly pays for students to visit campus. Every spring, Wesleyan invites around 50 students to its campus, and in the fall, around 100.

"We look for students that are outside the Northeast, haven't visited the university and had no direct contact with us," Thornton said. "We've been doing it for almost two decades."

The College will send letters offering roughly 100 of its most highly qualified applicants a free trip to campus this spring in the hope of encouraging the applicants to matriculate, according to Clagett. He hopes that the College's offer will draw between 50 and 60 students to campus, with the ultimate goal of convincing 30 or more to attend. The College identified the students who would receive the offer through a committee process.

"As we're reading folders we have various indicators to try and identify the very top students," Clagett said. "There were about 200 students who got that indicator. A week and a half ago we went through those names and selected those 101 who would get those letters. The students who received these excel academically but they also tended to have extracurricular talents that we're looking for - and excellent personal qualities of course."

Clagett said many of the students are considering Middlebury among other prestigious universities, including Ivy League schools.

"No question about it, they are potential Ivy League students," he said. "We think that in terms of the quality of the educational experience, Middlebury is comparable. We want to show them that."

Clagett pointed out that offering prospective trips to students has become necessary due to the nature of the application process.

"We fear the college selection process has become a far less thoughtful process," Clagett said. "They may not be thinking, 'What college is the best fit for me?' We want to make sure that they've gone through that thoughtful process. We think that if they see Midd that more will actually be attracted here."

Clagett said the trips will have no financial effect on current students.

"There is zero financial impact on students," he said. "When we had the Strategic Plan last year, the President set up a fund to help fund aspects of the Strategic Plan, including attracting highly qualified students."

While the cost of trips will vary, Clagett said the program will cost less than one normal scholarship to fund. "It's not costing the College that much," he said. "We'd estimate that it will run $400 to $500 per student. For someone from Boston it won't be much; for someone from San Francisco [will be] a little more."

Inzer said she supports Middlebury's program. "I have enormous respect for Bob Clagett and I know that he would only pursue initiatives that are in the best interest of the College and [its] students," she said.

Clagett stressed that the College did not wish to change the composition of the student body. "These tend to be the strongest academic applicants in the pool but they also have the strong extracurricular and personal qualities," he said. "These are the most sought after students in the country so we want to make sure Midd is on their radar screen."