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Admissions staff evaluates 21,000 applications to select Class of 2009
The staff of 20 reads more than 21,000 freshman applications beginning in November. Fifteen-hour days and seven-day weeks become business as usual as they chose the 9,900 applicants who were offered admission. “It’s a high-eye-drop, high-aspirin time of year,’’ Louis L. Hirsh, the University’s director of admissions, said. “We work long hours, pausing only to take the occasional phone call from a spouse or significant other, wondering when we’re coming home.’’ “We’re trying to listen to each kid’s story and each kid’s dreams,’’ Hirsh said. “This is one of the great milestones in people’s lives. When alumni think back to what they remember about the past 50 years, those events always include how they felt when they got our letter of admission.”
UD admitted almost 9,900 high school seniors this month to form a freshman class of 3,300 to 3,400 next fall. Vying for those spots were 2,665 Delawareans (12 percent) and 18,667 out-of-state students (88 percent). More than 70 percent of the Delawareans who apply were admitted to the Newark campus. Roughly 20 percent more were admitted to UD’s Associate in Arts program conducted at Wilmington, Dover and Georgetown. Thirty-six percent of the out-of-state applicants were admitted. After months of deliberation, the committee began mailing packets in mid-March to admitted students with the highest average SATs and GPAs in UD history--SATs over 1250, GPAs of nearly 3.7 and an average class rank in the top 15 percent.
To give a comprehensive review to more than 21,000 applications, many of the 20 committee members read every day--huddled in conference rooms viewing applications on overhead screens, trudging into the office on weekends in sweats to read them on their desktop computers, even curling up in their pajamas at home viewing them on their laptops. Knight said she usually leaves her home at 7:30 a.m. and rarely returns before 10 p.m. "Our application is not short. We require a lot of information and essays. If a student is going to take the time to fill out our application, we’re going to take the time to determine whether that student is going to be a good match for the University of Delaware," Knight said. "This is not a numbers-driven process. We care about these kids. There’s somebody’s baby behind every piece of paper--not just a grade point average and an SAT score."
Once the first round of acceptance letters goes out in mid-March, the phones ring nonstop with calls from anxious students, parents, counselors and interested sponsors worried about admission, roommate selection and financial aid. Before any application makes its way to the admissions committee, the admissions processing staff must scan every essay, transcript and recommendation into two computer systems. This year, they scanned 384 linear feet of applications-about 2,000 pieces of paper every four-hour shift. As staffer Joanne Forestell put it, “We perform miracles down here.’’ The 15-member processing staff knows what the applicants and their parents are feeling--80 percent of them are mothers of UD students. They check and recheck every document.
Some applicants still apply on paper, and about half of those applications are handwritten. Administrative assistant Barbara Johnston spends a good portion of every workday reconciling problems that result from poor penmanship or mistakes on Social Security numbers, addresses or phone numbers. Computer submissions also are not glitch-free. Diana Baczkowski, a senior secretary, spends days phoning applicants who forget to send required supplements. She said the worst part of her job description is talking with applicants who ask why they didn’t receive a letter when all their friends did. The answer usually is: “You forgot to click UD on your Common Application form.”
Committee members make scholarship recommendations as they review records, including choosing the 100 top applicants who are invited to the Distinguished Scholars competition for approximately 50 major awards, including the Eugene du Pont Memorial Scholarships of full tuition, room, board, fees and a stipend to complete a service-learning project. This year’s applicant pool is 12 percent Delawareans, but 25 percent of the distinguished scholar semifinalists are from the First State. “Picture the top 100 out of 21,000. These are phenomenal kids,’’ Knight said. “We’re competing with the very best schools in the country for these kids. They’re amazing.”
Admissions staffers jobs aren’t finished when the letters are mailed; they deal with reactions to the letters. “Sometimes in the same phone call, we’ll have sobs and we’ll have screams,’’ Knight said.
By the time the Class of 2009 visits campus for DelaWorld this summer, admissions officers will be fanning out to high schools to meet the class of 2010. Article by Kathy Canavan To learn how to subscribe to UDaily, click here. |
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