CMC Magazine, Spring 2006

Printable version (PDF) of this article.

It's an unseasonably warm day in December. While students are studying for exams and skateboarding through North Quad, seven admission officers gather around a conference table to begin shaping the Class of 2010. As they consider nearly 180 applications for the first round of Early Decision, reflective of a fourfold increase in applications since 1970, the team keeps a steady eye on enrolling the ideal students whose interests synch with the College's mission, who are likely to excel, and who will make lasting and meaningful contributions to the community—all while ensuring a fair and hands-on process.

"The admission process is clearly one of the most important elements to support the mission of the College," says Richard Vos, vice president and dean of admission and financial aid. "When we're reading files, we will comment that the person was a good fit, or not a good fit. That whole question of fit has a lot to do with the mission of the College: Are they outgoing? Do they take risks? Do they communicate well? All of these things are aspects of the potential for becoming successful in leadership roles."

The committee considers a candidate from a large, Midwestern high school. She's been involved with the debate team and student government for four years, and interned with a prominent public official—but her SAT scores and grades are a little low. Clearly the committee is impressed with her potential as expressed in her recommendations and activities. The discussion goes around the well-polished table. "She's a great fit, with excellent leadership qualities," says one reader. "It's a classic case," says Vos. "She's strong in extracurricular programs, but not quite as strong in academics." Eventually the student is admitted.

Even as they consider this individual candidate, there is a constant awareness of what must be their end result: retaining the culture and mission of the College and ensuring the quality and vibrancy of each class.

It's going to take a while. Fortunately, someone's brought snacks.

The Art of Admission

To the outside, it may seem like there is a magic formula resulting in admission or denial of a candidate, but in reality the process is much more complex, well-defined, and rigorous. Vos explains that the work of admission is fundamentally human. "It's not easy. If it were very simple, we could design some algorithm or program to do it," he says. "But I tell my father that I'll probably never be replaced by a computer, because admission, by its very nature, is a very human process where real people are trying to get to know other real people. It's not a science—it's more of an art in many ways."

What admission officers really are looking for is "fit"—the subtle, mutually beneficial relationship between a student and the College community. Because CMC is a residential liberal arts college where life outside the classroom is very important, the admission staff is careful to consider both the academic and co-curricular achievements of students as they seek to enroll a diverse and increasingly talented student body. Although strong academic credentials are essential, they are not enough to guarantee admission. In particular, admission officers seek students who aspire to future positions of responsible leadership—not just student government officers or championship debaters, but also athletes, journalists, community volunteers, and Scouts.

Although applicants are admitted or denied on an individual basis, the staff also pays close attention to the entirety of the class they are assembling, building a dynamic and interesting community to reflect the College's desires with new ideas, skills, and perspectives. "In different years," says Vos, "different scenarios could unfold depending on the institutional need at that point in time. We always want to have some musicians, and some people who write for the student newspaper, and some people who play on the soccer team, and so on. You build a class at the front end by balancing those priorities." Later, students may be taken off the waiting list because they fill a specific niche in the entering class, such as a trombonist or soccer goalkeeper. The idea of institutional need is part of what makes the admission process seem capricious or unpredictable to an outside observer. "Actually," says Vos, "there is an internal logic to it, but it's hard to define that logic because it changes as the College's need changes."

The Cycle of Admission: Recruitment, Evaluation, and Enrollment

Securing a talented class begins with wide-ranging recruitment accomplished, in part, through consistent marketing tools, travel, and campus visits. By building the applicant pool at the front end, the admission officers ensure a wide variety of talented students from whom to choose while maintaining diversity of gender, ethnicity, race, geographic region, and life experience. The staff casts a wide net, identifying high school sophomores and juniors based on their strong performance on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test and B+ or higher grade point average and visiting more than 450 secondary schools annually.

The regular application reading period lasts from January through March. With the College receiving more than 3,700 applications, and each application being read twice—carefully—each of the seven admission officers is responsible for considering more than 1,000 applicants. Three part-time readers also will read about 450 files. "We want to be fast and correct," says Vos.

It's not easy, because applications contain a lot of information, averaging 35 pages. To apply to CMC, students must submit a common application and supplement, an analytical essay, a personal statement, a school report, a midyear report, two teacher evaluations, an official high school transcript, and official SAT or ACT scores. Reports on those students who have interviewed at the College are included in their files. A complete file tells a story about a student. It is the reader's responsibility to read between the lines, decode the story, and decide whether the student will succeed at CMC.

"For example," says Vos, "when reading recommendation letters, we're almost reading more for what's not being said than what's on the page. If it's not wildly enthusiastic, but seems more generic, such as, 'He always turned in his homework on time,' then he may be a good student, but not be a very active member of the community, and he may not be destined for a leadership role. That's what I mean by reading between the lines."

Readers examine the file, considering academic achievement, leadership potential, extracurricular activities, and total fit. Legacy files are coded as such, and that status is taken into consideration. The process is not simply a numbers game, although numbers do matter—readers consider GPA, class rank, and test scores to evaluate whether or not a student has shown initiative and success in a demanding academic environment. Readers also must put a student's achievements in context-for example, is a student's GPA inflated by a host of non-academic classes, or is it deflated by low grades early in their high school career? Are the courses taken challenging, at an honors or Advanced Placement level? Does their high school offer a full slate of extracurricular activities? Each of these factors will influence the final decision.

One factor that does not influence a student's admittance is economic status or background. As one of the few private liberal arts colleges in the country with a need-blind admission process, the College can shape the class by admitting the best students regardless of their family income. "We are one of maybe 30 or 40 colleges in the country," says Vos, "that are need-blind in admission and also meet 100 percent of demonstrated need."

After considering all available information, each reader fills out a vote sheet that evaluates three specific dimensions of the student's file: academic considerations, personal considerations, and an overall rating. Then the reader makes their final recommendation for a decision. They must circle one of the following choices:

Every week during file-reading season, the admission committee discusses unusual or complex files, borderline cases, and files for those applicants on whom readers disagree. At these meetings, the first reader for a controversial file presents the candidate to the group, summarizing the information in the file and presenting ratings and comments. Discussion follows.

These meetings are marked by an overwhelming feeling of collegiality. "Our meetings are not argumentative," says Victoria Romero, director of admission. "Everyone's opinion is valued equally, and we all are looking for something a little different." The staff is deeply interested in the stories that individual students tell, and readers both respect others' opinions and carefully consider their own. They know there is a lot at stake.

There are three different ways to be admitted: first, either of two Early Decision periods, both of which are binding, for students who have decided that CMC is their first choice; second, the regular admission period; and third, the admission process for transfer students, who fill about 10 percent of the new student spaces.

Once all the files are read, and the last letter of admission or denial in the regular admission process has been sent out, the third stage of the admission cycle, enrollment, begins. During this time, the admission staff works closely with faculty and administrators to ensure applicants get the information they need to make an appropriate decision about a college. In many cases, this means trying to persuade the best students to choose CMC. In other cases, it is simply a matter of continuing the messaging process begun in the recruitment stage: maintaining consistent communication, answering questions, and connecting prospective students with their peers. The College's Web site for admitted students, one key tool in the process, logged more than 1,400 messages, postings, and questions last spring.

"We're competing for the top students from around the country," says Vos, "and that just goes with the territory. On the one hand, we want to be thought of in the same breath as schools like Harvard and Stanford. The flip side is that we try at the same time to differentiate ourselves and make ourselves distinctive." One advantage that CMC has relative to other schools is that it is part of The Claremont Colleges. "We don't have to be all things to all people," Vos says, "because being part of the consortium allows us to say about CMC that we're the best of both worlds. We're a small school in a larger community."

One of the biggest challenges for students is to be both self-aware and attentive to the personality of an institution: fit is a two-way street. Just as admission officers must decide if a student is a good fit for the College, so too must students decide if CMC is right for them. Although Vos is somewhat hesitant to specify what a typical CMC student is like for fear of over-generalizing, he does admit that students tend to be "outgoing, self-confident, achievement-oriented, energetic, optimistic, enthusiastic, and comfortable in social situations."

In this phase, the decision is in the hands of the student. "We've admitted these 786 people to fill a freshman class of 265 or 270," says Vos, "and what if all the women said yes and all the men said no? That never happens, but you never know whether an individual will enroll here or go to College X. You can make an educated guess about the group behavior, plus or minus two percent, and retain a waiting list as a safety valve, but there's no way to predict with absolute certainty who will say yes. We're talking about relatively small numbers, and students who usually have a lot of good options."

Ultimately, some students will enroll while others will decide to attend other colleges. If space remains in the entering class, qualified candidates will be pulled from the waiting list. And when all of the decisions are in, the process starts all over again and it's time to begin planning for recruiting another class.

For Vos, who began his career in higher education living in a dorm and working in student affairs, the cyclical nature of admission is part of the appeal of the job. In his 19th year at CMC, the process continues to challenge both him and his staff. "Admission is an opportunity to work in an area where you know you're having an effect on students. Every year you have a new audience, and it's really fun to plan the year. For me, admission is very creative and challenging work."

Back to Table of Contents

Adam Sapp, assistant dean