Admissions Accomplished

Applications and SAT scores up, acceptance rate down

May 1, 2007

When it comes to admission trends, it's been a decade-long bull market at Dickinson College.

• Applications this year are at a record high of 5,840, more than double the 2,803 received in 1997.
• Only four out of 10 applicants were accepted this year, compared with eight out of 10 in 1997.
• The average Scholastic Aptitude Test score is up 100 points to 1289 last year from 1189 a decade earlier.

None of these changes occurred in a vacuum. Administrators identified Dickinson's place in higher education, developed an integrated and targeted marketing plan to craft messages, and then delivered those messages.

"We established relationships with foundations and schools in key areas to help us get the word out about Dickinson," said Robert J. Massa, vice president for enrollment and college relations. "We did a significant amount of media work to speak out on the issues that matter to get Dickinson's name in the press. We began to emphasize value and not price, reducing our reliance gradually on non-need awards to entice enrollment."

The result has been a significant decline in the college's "discount rate," or the total amount of institutional grants and scholarships (need-based and non-need based), divided by tuition and fee revenue, and an increase in the numbers of students who indicate that Dickinson is their first choice because their strengths and characteristics match those of the college.

In line with peer schools

As recently as 1999, the college's discount rate for first-year students exceeded 50 percent. During the last five years, the college's first-year discount rate has fluctuated between 32 and 34 percent, and the average discount rate for the entire student body has been approximately 33 percent. That puts Dickinson's average discount rate below the 39 percent average at all private four-year colleges and in line with the 32 percent average at similar highly selective colleges.

In the 1990s, "Dickinson was not in a particularly strong market position and was forced to 'buy' more students to entice them to enroll," Massa said. "Within a year of changing admission practices and marketing messages to reflect the value of an investment in a Dickinson education"—as opposed to focusing primarily on price—"the college was able to reduce its first-year students' discount rate from 52 percent in 1999 to 37 percent in 2000, while improving student academic quality and enrolling the targeted number of first-year students."

Dickinson has been able to devote more of its resources to qualified students who need aid rather than top students who simply want more aid. Today, 6 percent of all Dickinson grant and scholarship monies go to students who have no financial need. That is down from 20 percent in 1999 and well within reach of the college's goal for 2010 of 5 percent.

"We will not completely eliminate this 'non-need' aid because the federal formula for determining need is imperfect, and some upper-middle income families who are close to qualifying for need-based grants actually do need our help in order to afford the annual price of a Dickinson education," Massa said.

Unique characteristics sought

Christopher "Seth" Allen, dean of admissions, said student interest in coming to Dickinson has never been greater, and that students are increasingly interested in how the college fits their needs and interests. He said open houses are drawing record crowds, and the college's January acceptance program—created four years ago to meet the surging demand for a Dickinson education—has gained in popularity.

The trends have enabled the college to focus more on students who possess an extraordinary depth in one or two areas and less on students who have a long list of activities on their applications. The result, Massa said, is that the students and college are a good fit for each other. "We tried to be different from other schools in that we led with our educational philosophy and tried to make it meaningful to students who were receptive to our message," Massa said.