As of Jan. 14, applications for WCU’s fall freshman class were up by 2,061 compared to the same week last year – from 3,291 to 5,352. In fact, just two weeks into the month, Western had already exceeded the total number of applications received for fall of 2007, when 4,792 first-year students sought admission to WCU.

“As retired vice provost for enrollment and director of admissions emeritus at N.C. State with over 35 years of experience in the admissions profession, I can tell you without hesitation that a one-year 62 percent increase in applications for admission is phenomenal,” said George Dixon, who also serves as senior consultant with the National College Access Partnership for the University of North Carolina General Administration.

In addition to having a larger pool of prospective freshmen, applications from students seeking to transfer to Western from other educational institutions in the fall also are up by more than 25 percent (from 306 to 383), and applications for freshmen who sought enrollment this spring semester were up 39.3 percent (from 135 to 188).

Western Carolina officials attribute the dramatic surge in applications to a variety of factors, including the adoption of a more precise system of student recruitment that helps identify prospective students who are more likely to be interested in attending WCU.

“Instead of a traditional carpet-bombing approach in which we contacted every prospective student who took the SAT, we have fine-tuned the process and are using a more targeted approach,” said Alan Kines, WCU director of undergraduate admission. “This nationally recognized best-practices method allows us to refine our search process through a computerized data-mining process that identifies students who will be a better fit for us.”

The system examines self-reported responses to questions about preference for a public or private university, desire to remain in state, willingness to travel more than three hours from home, educational attainment of parents and similar information collected by the College Board when students take the SAT.By helping Western find prospective students who are more likely to apply for enrollment, the new approach also is expected to play a role in improving the university’s retention rate. “Students who are identified as being a better fit for Western will be more likely to stay here, to succeed and to graduate,” Kines said.

Although this approach to student recruitment is widely used by colleges and universities in other areas of the country, Western is one of only a handful in the Southeast to adopt the method, said Dixon, the UNC General Administration consultant.

“From my experience, using forecasting models in recruitment is, indeed, an emerging best practices model in admissions and enrollment management,” he said. “While using student demographic information to look at admissions and yield probabilities isn’t brand new, it hasn’t been widely used until the past few years, and then mostly by smaller private schools.”

Also playing a role in the increase in applications, university officials said, is the addition of several new programs that have proven popular with prospective students, and an increase in Western’s visibility and reputation.

“We now have a marketing plan that is working, and we have the additional resources to put it into action,” Kines said. “But it’s more than just a marketing plan. We also have a product to market. Today’s college-bound students are very savvy. Colleges and universities can market to this generation all they want, but if there’s no substance behind the marketing message, today’s youth will tune it out right away.”

Students who have applied for admission for fall 2008 at Western say they are attracted to a university that is small enough to provide a more personalized educational experience, but large enough to have the resources of a bigger school, and that offers a diverse mix of academic programs, including traditional areas of study and new programs of study leading to hot careers.

“For me, the deciding factor was Western’s size. Western is the perfect size for me. It’s not too big. It’s not too small. It’s just right,” said Amy Lynn McGinnis, a senior at Hickory High School who plans to study either music education or physical therapy. “Plus, Western has the best marching band program I have ever seen, and I wanted to go to a school where I could be part of something special like the band.”

The most popular programs among high school students applying to Western for fall are forensic science and anthropology, construction management, music, education, nursing, health sciences, communication, and motion picture and television production. Western’s Pride of the Mountains Marching Band – the largest marching band in the Carolinas, at more than 300 members – also draws interest from a large number of prospective students. About 14 percent of the freshman class played in the marching band last year.

Other new student recruitment activities include the development of an Alumni Admissions Council, in which WCU alumni in such key areas as Hickory, Charlotte, Raleigh and the Triad meet with prospective students and share information about their experiences at Western; and the use of faculty members to contact prospective students to discuss academic programs and potential majors.

Despite extra hours being logged by admission counselors and processors, Western Carolina is still accepting applications for enrollment for fall 2008, with several open houses scheduled during the winter and spring months. For more information or to schedule a campus tour (pictured above right), visit http://www.wcu.edu/ or call (877) WCU-4-YOU.

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Last Modified: Friday, Jan. 18, 2008