U. may let fewer in next year

This year, applicants to the University may find a more difficult road to admission. As the University begins the process of coping with the second largest freshman class ever to come to campus, discussions have already begun to set goals for the size of the class of 1998, Admissions Dean Lee Stetson said. And Stetson said the University may be more "conservative" when it comes to accepting freshmen come April 1. But he did not say whether that would necessarily lead to admitting fewer students. "There are strong arguments for scaling back this year," he said. "What we'll be inclined to do is make greater use of our wait list and be more conservative of our admits on April 1." This year, the size of the freshman class jumped from 2,295 last year to 2,455 – 85 more students than the University targeted for enrollment. The yield of accepted students who decided to attend also rose by one percent, to 47 percent. Meetings to discuss the situation will last into the late fall or early winter and will involve representatives from all areas of University life. Interim Provost Marvin Lazerson, Vice Provost for University Life Kim Morrisson, budget officials and the deans of all four undergraduate schools will be involved in the decision making process. "The useful things about having these conversations is that it recognizes that there is an impact across schools and university wide," Morrisson said. "Clearly schools need to be concerned with quality of life issues across the board." Wharton Vice Dean Janice Bellace said the Wharton School will definitely be scaling back for next year, because of the school's inability to handle the increased student body. "We have communicated emphatically to [Stetson] that we want a class in the range of 375 to 400, with 400 being the absolute maximum," she said. Wharton exceeded its target of 400 by 36 students this year and increased its yield by four percent. "We're delighted with the quality of the class," she said. "But 440 freshman is too large for us, because of the size of our classrooms and the way our classes are taught. We just can't accommodate a class that big." Stetson said there are important variables which point to accepting a smaller freshman class this year. Among them are the issues of class size, the quality of student life, residential life issues and academic concerns, Stetson said. Morrisson said the decision to cut back on admissions is a complex one, involving many factors in her office alone. "I think it's obviously a problem that involves what kind of program decisions you make," she said. "Our concern is to make sure that we have a high quality program for first-year students. I would hate to see us move away from these programs because of the number of students we have." Morrisson said one of her department's primary objectives is to house all freshmen in freshman dormitories or college houses with structured programs and faculty available. Stetson, who said the quality of this year's freshman class is close to the the best the University has seen, also said many factors have to go into a decision of this magnitude. For the Class of 1997, the College and the Engineering School requested a larger freshman class be admitted to account for slightly lower figures in the schools for the Class of 1996. Beyond the requested increases, both the College and Engineering exceeded their targets. Dozens more than the targeted 400 students matriculated into the Engineering School. "I would characterize it as a challenge of the riches, not as a purely negative outcome," Stetson said. One strategy which the admissions office may use, Stetson said, is being more conservative on April 1 and managing the class size through May, June and July using the wait list. "I don't know what the numbers will be," Stetson said. "But, the way class size can be managed is by using the wait list in a significant manner. That is my sense of our strategy for next year." But, Morrisson, Bellace and Stetson all stressed that increased numbers this year does not in any way compromise the quality of the student body. In fact, they pointed out that test scores and class rank are higher than ever. College Dean Matthew Santirocco said his school seems to be able to handle the influx of freshman. However, he said, there comes a point when services become stretched too far. "There's a certain number, I don't know what it is, that you stress the system in terms of support services, residences and academics. Once we get to a point, we need to look at it again," he said. Bellace said any changes in goals for next year will not affect promoting the University to students. "The competitive atmosphere will be continued among the leading colleges," she said. "We have to continue our effort to keep Penn visible, both nationally and internationally."