Last month's terrorist attacks have left high school seniors and college admissions officials wondering about what to expect from this year's round of recruitment and applications.
While a recent Careers and Colleges Magazine survey of high school seniors did not indicate that the majority of prospective college students had made any drastic alterations to their plans just yet, there are still doubts about what lies ahead in this year's recruiting season.
On one end of the spectrum, colleges, especially those located in urban settings, have expressed concern about having a lower turnout of prospective students due to safety concerns. In turn, high school seniors and their parents have been re-evaluating their college wish lists, with added concerns about being too far from home and being more vulnerable at a college in a city.
Foreseeing a potential for decreased numbers of prospective students at urban universities, college admissions offices are making increased efforts to increase the appeal of their schools.
"A lot of colleges in cities are trying to inform families that they are safe places to go," said Joyce Smith, the executive director of the National Association for College Admissions Counseling. "Overall, they're doing a lot to encourage applicants to still apply."
In spite of Penn's urban location, between New York and Washington, the Office of Admissions has seen few indications that this fall's recruitment and subsequent turnout of applications have changed.
"Our applications are running ahead compared to last year by about 10 percent with both regular and early decision," Dean of Admissions Lee Stetson said. "Whether or not that holds up or not is another question."
Still, the issue of safety and being far away from home has definitely become more of a concern than in years past.
Maya Bohra, a high school senior from Richmond, Va., said that her outlook on colleges in cities has changed, although she still plans on applying to Penn and Columbia University.
Before Sept. 11, "issues like being mugged were the safety concerns that I had," said Bohra, who was touring Penn yesterday. "Now I'm more aware that there are important buildings in cities that could be bombed."
To address these and similar concerns on the part of prospective students, Penn has stepped up its recruiting efforts.
"We are trying to reassure our student population, and parents too, that Penn is as safe as it's ever been," Stetson said.
In spite of these increased efforts, there have been some indications of an increased interest in schools located in rural settings in the past several weeks.
Earlham College, a small liberal arts school in Richmond, Ind., is one of the many schools already observing such a trend.
"We had a 20 percent increase in students attending our Fall Preview, with most of our visitors coming from East of the Mississippi River," said Jeff Rickey, dean of admissions and financial aid at Earlham. "Our overall visits numbers are up by 17 percent and our applications are up by 34 percent."
Rickey said that Earlham was paying closer attention to where its applicants are from, although he noted that it is too early in the admissions season to jump to conclusions.
"I believe that students will apply to the same schools they had intended to, but that the events of September 11 may impact their final decision," he said. "While I think that rural schools may pick up additional interest, I think that students will be staying closer to home."
Doris Davis, associate provost of admissions and enrollment at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., was reluctant to conclude that high school seniors might be veering away from urban schools.
"I want students to apply to Cornell for all the right reasons, not for the fear of being in a metropolitan area," she said. "There are great institutions in New York City, and [it] is still an incredibly dynamic city."
Theoretically, Columbia is the Ivy League school that may be most impacted by any of these potential changes. Despite being located in New York, officials say the school has not felt repercussions thus far.
After experiencing an initial decline of on-campus visitors immediately after Sept. 11, their interest levels are back to where they have been in past years.
Columbia spokesman James Devitte said that he didn't expect that the school's location would impact college seniors' decisions in the long run.
"Part of Columbia is certainly the appeal of New York City and its community and cultural life, and that remains unchanged," Devitte said. "New York City has always been a selling point for people applying to Columbia."
In the end, though, it won't be until May, when college seniors make their final decisions and yield is calculated, that anyone will know whether or not the terrorist attacks will have a significant impact on universities across the country.
"From my point of view, it's probably a little premature to know what will happen," said Rosita Fernandez-Rojo, the director of college counseling at Choate Rosemary Hall, a preparatory school in Massachusetts. "There's a lot of uncertainty in general, so people are sort of watching or waiting."
