Admissions reaches out to distant students

Admissions officers aim to attract applicants with personal attention. In promotional literature and recruitment visits, the University often boasts of its geographic diversity, calling attention to achievements like enrolling undergraduate students from all 50 states. But while admissions officers typically have a fairly easy time attracting applicants from New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania -- which constitute half of the University's student body -- it is often harder to find qualified students from out-of-the-way states such as Wyoming and the Dakotas. Attracting such students, however, has been a priority for the University in recent years, and has prompted admissions personnel to make frequent trips to the states in order to identify potential students. Additionally, admissions officer Leslie Smith --Ewho is in charge of recruiting in some of the "outreach" states -- said she even contacts seniors from her region in December to encourage them to apply if she has not yet received their applications near the due date. The University's efforts seem to be paying off. The Class of 2000 had students from all 50 states, and the Class of 2001 has students from every state except for Idaho and Wyoming. And the number of applicants and matriculating students in the "outreach region" of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Idaho increased significantly in the Class of 2001 in comparison to the Class of 2000. In the Class of 2000, only 11 of 48 applicants from these states matriculated into the University. In the Class of 2001, however, 18 of 70 applicants to the Class of 2001 matriculated into the University. Smith attributed the increase to "targeting the right students" through the help of local guidance counselors and "more personal attention." She explained that the University tries to "cultivate relationships with guidance counselors" in high schools in the outreach region, encouraging them to visit the University in the spring. While at Penn for such visits, Smith said the guidance counselors meet students from their state and with representatives from the University's various undergraduate schools, attend classes and see performing arts groups in order to "know what Penn is like today." In addition to establishing relationships with guidance counselors, Smith travels to high schools in her region to identify potential students. She noted that after meeting such students "we stay in touch with them" throughout the admissions process. Once students are admitted, they are encouraged to visit the University. Additionally, current University students call and send letters to students in their region. College sophomore Melissa Jensen, a native of Montana, said Smith was influential in her decision to attend Penn. She was one of two Penn admissions officers to visit Jensen's high school. Jensen, who was deciding between the University of Montana -- where she received a full scholarship -- and Penn, visited the University as an accepted senior in April 1996, where she met with Annenberg School for Communication Dean Kathleen Hall Jamieson and Admissions Dean Lee Stetson. She later helped the admissions office in recruiting students for the Class of 2001 by calling and writing letters to accepted seniors from Montana.