IU admission standards increase

Kylie Rickards wants to enroll at IU. The Lebanon High School senior grew up watching IU basketball and visited the campus as child. She wants to stay close to home and attend a good school. She says it is the perfect fit. \nBut Rickards might not have the chance to become a Hoosier. She is one of many applicants with average grades placed on the waitlist this year after a surge in applications led to even higher standards for incoming freshmen. The dramatic increase in applications comes just a year after the IU board of trustees approved sweeping changes in admissions standards, which will go into effect in 2011.\nRickards is a well-rounded student, participating in student council, varsity cheerleading as well as track and field. While she receives outstanding grades in her other classes, Rickards has struggled with math, resulting in lower-than-desired GPA and standardized test scores. \n“I was very upset when I found out I was waitlisted,” Rickards said. “I want to be an IU cheerleader and participate in student government. I thought I was going to get in because my grades in other classes were really good.” \nIU had received more than 29,000 applications as of mid-February this year, surpassing last year’s total number of 28,500 applications, IU Director of Admissions Mary Ellen Anderson said. The Office of Admissions stops taking applications in August.\nIU is not the only school experiencing drastic increases in applications. Seventy-three percent of colleges across the country reported the number of admission applications had increased from the previous year, according to the National Association for College Admission Counseling, State of College Admission 2006 report. \nThe nationwide increase in college applications may be attributed to a continued increase in the number of high school graduates and to college enrollment being at an all-time high. Both high school graduates and college enrollments are expected to increase until at least 2014, according to the report.\nBesides a national increase in high school graduates, IU is attracting more potential students for a number of reasons. Anderson said while the reputation of its prestigious schools like the Kelley School of Business and the Jacobs School of Music is certainly a factor, an increase in visits to campus, more scholarships for Indiana residents and word-of-mouth by high school counselors and current students are also contributing to the surge in applicants.\n“It is a combination of all those things,” Anderson said. “It is students who come to this campus generally having a very positive experience. It just kind of snowballs.” \nIn 2011, IU will put new benchmarks for admissions standards into effect, including benchmarks for SAT scores, GPA and class ranking, in addition to high school course requirements like math and language classes. The standards favor in-state students who rank in the top 40 percent of their high school classes, and out-of-state students that rank in the top 30 percent of their classes.\nBut even without the new standards in place, the enormous increase in applications creates a much larger group of students for IU to choose from, resulting in a more competitive applicant pool, Anderson said. \nAnderson said the average GPA of incoming freshmen for IU has risen to between a 3.5 and 3.6. The average ACT score is a 25 to 26. The average SAT combined critical reading and math score is 1200.\nStudents have a much lower of a chance of coming off the waitlist than they did last year, Anderson said. A student’s likelihood of being admitted from the waitlist is about one in three, according to the report.\n“There are a number of us who applied and came to IU who might not be competitive in today’s environment” Anderson said. “The University has changed; society has changed; education has changed.”\nRising admissions standards also affect IU’s credibility and reputation. \n“It means that without a conscious policy of setting our admission standards higher that our standards will be higher because we have more applications of students who are better prepared,” said IU Provost Karen Hanson. “We will be taking a better and better class if these trends continue.”\nMore serious and motivated students will have a positive impact on other students on campus because they will be encouraged through peer motivation to do their best work and increase their performance level, Hanson said. Faculty will also benefit from teaching students who are eager to learn.\nStudents who are concerned about getting into IU should understand that their grades and grade patterns matter, sign up for multiple dates of standardized tests and meet deadlines and priority dates, Anderson said. Students should also consider attending a different university and then transferring to IU after their freshman year, she said.\n“If you apply to your first choice school and you aren’t admitted, it is not the end of the world,” Anderson said. “So many students do not think about transferring as a viable option. While it is not an ideal situation, sometimes it is a great alternative for students.” \nFor students like Rickards, getting into IU is their only concern. \n“I applied to (IU-Purdue University at Indianapolis), University of Indianapolis and Ball State after I was waitlisted,” Rickards said. “I’ll probably go to IUPUI to get IU credit and then transfer to Bloomington. I’m still hoping I’ll get off the waitlist, but I just got my letter and it said I wouldn’t find out until June. I’ve still got a long wait.”