(04-04-2023 11:12 AM)Longhorn Wrote:  

(04-04-2023 07:38 AM)JMU2004 Wrote:  Didn't know where to post this, but I saw JMU received just under 37k applications this year good for a roughly 17% increase from prior year. Class size is still 4,750.

Admit rate should also drop from the 75% of 2022, I would imagine.

Not necessarily.

The admission rate (% of applicants offered admission) will not drop if all 37k met currently established admission standards. If all 37k met established admission criteria they would all be offered admission.

The % of all applicants offered admission will “drop” (in a significant manner) only if the established admission standards are raised, or if the applicant pool (the 37k) somehow showed a precipitous decline in the number of qualified applicants, or the number of “early action” students accepting their offer of admission increased.

At present, JMU’s projected budgetary needs to fill those 4750 seats is balanced against raising or lowering admission standards. The “balancing act” is a delicate one.

The hope is that a larger pool of qualified applicants would result in a lower admission rate (as you suggest), however, the process is a bit more complicated and fluidly dynamic than that.

It's kind of interesting looking at admissions data from 2021 and 2022.

2021:
Applied: 22,288
Accepted: 18,276 (82%)
Enrolled: 4,750

2022:
Applied: 31,755
Accepted: 23,952 (75%)
Enrolled: 4,750

A couple interesting observations. First, our acceptance rate obviously fell. Any idea which of the three factors you called out was the primary driver of the decline? It seems like middle 50% test score ranges declined year over year, so it doesn't seem like admissions standards were raised. Then again, with optional test scores, those metrics provide fewer insights than they have in the past.

Second, our yield (% accepted applicants who enrolled) fell significantly. It's pretty interesting that we were able to increase the number of students accepted by 31% while keeping our enrollment perfectly flat. Any insights into how that was managed?

The common application seems to have substantially altered our applicant pool in some way. At a minimum, we seem to have accepted more students who didn't actually have strong interest in JMU. That sort of makes sense if you can apply to a school with the click of a button.

(04-04-2023 11:33 AM)We Are the Dukes of JMU Wrote:  

(04-04-2023 11:12 AM)Longhorn Wrote:  

(04-04-2023 07:38 AM)JMU2004 Wrote:  Didn't know where to post this, but I saw JMU received just under 37k applications this year good for a roughly 17% increase from prior year. Class size is still 4,750.

Admit rate should also drop from the 75% of 2022, I would imagine.

Not necessarily.

The admission rate (% of applicants offered admission) will not drop if all 37k met currently established admission standards. If all 37k met established admission criteria they would all be offered admission.

The % of all applicants offered admission will “drop” (in a significant manner) only if the established admission standards are raised, or if the applicant pool (the 37k) somehow showed a precipitous decline in the number of qualified applicants, or the number of “early action” students accepting their offer of admission increased.

At present, JMU’s projected budgetary needs to fill those 4750 seats is balanced against raising or lowering admission standards. The “balancing act” is a delicate one.

The hope is that a larger pool of qualified applicants would result in a lower admission rate (as you suggest), however, the process is a bit more complicated and fluidly dynamic than that.

It's kind of interesting looking at admissions data from 2021 and 2022.

2021:
Applied: 22,288
Accepted: 18,276 (82%)
Enrolled: 4,750

2022:
Applied: 31,755
Accepted: 23,952 (75%)
Enrolled: 4,750

A couple interesting observations. First, our acceptance rate obviously fell. Any idea which of the three factors you called out was the primary driver of the decline? It seems like middle 50% test score ranges declined year over year, so it doesn't seem like admissions standards were raised. Then again, with optional test scores, those metrics provide fewer insights than they have in the past.

Second, our yield (% accepted applicants who enrolled) fell significantly. It's pretty interesting that we were able to increase the number of students accepted by 31% while keeping our enrollment perfectly flat. Any insights into how that was managed?

The common application seems to have substantially altered our applicant pool in some way. At a minimum, we seem to have accepted more students who didn't actually have strong interest in JMU. That sort of makes sense if you can apply to a school with the click of a button.

My guess is that the drop between 21 and 22 was mostly due to the increase in the size of the applicant pool, coupled with an increase in the acceptance rate in the early action group, which lowered the need to go deeper into the general admission pool to meet the enrollment target. But that’s just my educated guess.

The common application was the bigger factor, IMO, with possibly the higher profile of playing FBS FB beginning to play a role. Athletics may play a bigger role if JMU keeps winning.

It’s a dynamic situation…and because JMU is still struggling with scholarship money to lure the “top tier” undergrad applicants, and the pressure to grow the graduate programs, the next decade will be an interesting time in the history of JMU’s academic profile.

It's really interesting that we had so much going on in the span of a few years...I'd imagine even the admissions team has trouble identifying all the factors that are leading to these numbers. We had covid throwing a wrench in everything, but then coming out of that we announced moving to FBS/Sunbelt, major move to R2 and national ranking, common application, doing really well in FBS (and getting ranked)... Hopefully we can keep on winning in FBS and maybe start to make some noise in men's basketball (to go along with our success in other sports) to drive in donors and additional attention. Having a giant drop in acceptance is great, but hopefully it will continue. What has always been an outstanding university is really rounding out the full college experience in literally every facet, so I would be surprised if all of the numbers don't continue to improve.

(04-04-2023 12:38 PM)Longhorn Wrote:  

(04-04-2023 11:33 AM)We Are the Dukes of JMU Wrote:  

(04-04-2023 11:12 AM)Longhorn Wrote:  

(04-04-2023 07:38 AM)JMU2004 Wrote:  Didn't know where to post this, but I saw JMU received just under 37k applications this year good for a roughly 17% increase from prior year. Class size is still 4,750.

Admit rate should also drop from the 75% of 2022, I would imagine.

Not necessarily.

The admission rate (% of applicants offered admission) will not drop if all 37k met currently established admission standards. If all 37k met established admission criteria they would all be offered admission.

The % of all applicants offered admission will “drop” (in a significant manner) only if the established admission standards are raised, or if the applicant pool (the 37k) somehow showed a precipitous decline in the number of qualified applicants, or the number of “early action” students accepting their offer of admission increased.

At present, JMU’s projected budgetary needs to fill those 4750 seats is balanced against raising or lowering admission standards. The “balancing act” is a delicate one.

The hope is that a larger pool of qualified applicants would result in a lower admission rate (as you suggest), however, the process is a bit more complicated and fluidly dynamic than that.

It's kind of interesting looking at admissions data from 2021 and 2022.

2021:
Applied: 22,288
Accepted: 18,276 (82%)
Enrolled: 4,750

2022:
Applied: 31,755
Accepted: 23,952 (75%)
Enrolled: 4,750

A couple interesting observations. First, our acceptance rate obviously fell. Any idea which of the three factors you called out was the primary driver of the decline? It seems like middle 50% test score ranges declined year over year, so it doesn't seem like admissions standards were raised. Then again, with optional test scores, those metrics provide fewer insights than they have in the past.

Second, our yield (% accepted applicants who enrolled) fell significantly. It's pretty interesting that we were able to increase the number of students accepted by 31% while keeping our enrollment perfectly flat. Any insights into how that was managed?

The common application seems to have substantially altered our applicant pool in some way. At a minimum, we seem to have accepted more students who didn't actually have strong interest in JMU. That sort of makes sense if you can apply to a school with the click of a button.

My guess is that the drop between 21 and 22 was mostly due to the increase in the size of the applicant pool, coupled with an increase in the acceptance rate in the early action group, which lowered the need to go deeper into the general admission pool to meet the enrollment target. But that’s just my educated guess.

The common application was the bigger factor, IMO, with possibly the higher profile of playing FBS FB beginning to play a role. Athletics may play a bigger role if JMU keeps winning.

It’s a dynamic situation…and because JMU is still struggling with scholarship money to lure the “top tier” undergrad applicants, and the pressure to grow the graduate programs, the next decade will be an interesting time in the history of JMU’s academic profile.

Out of curiosity, what's driving that pressure? Do additional grad programs help from a budget perspective? Is there a desire to move toward R1? I've heard others on the board and elsewhere allude to this pressure, but I'm not really clear on what's driving it.

(04-04-2023 04:19 PM)We Are the Dukes of JMU Wrote:  

(04-04-2023 12:38 PM)Longhorn Wrote:  

(04-04-2023 11:33 AM)We Are the Dukes of JMU Wrote:  

(04-04-2023 11:12 AM)Longhorn Wrote:  

(04-04-2023 07:38 AM)JMU2004 Wrote:  Didn't know where to post this, but I saw JMU received just under 37k applications this year good for a roughly 17% increase from prior year. Class size is still 4,750.

Admit rate should also drop from the 75% of 2022, I would imagine.

Not necessarily.

The admission rate (% of applicants offered admission) will not drop if all 37k met currently established admission standards. If all 37k met established admission criteria they would all be offered admission.

The % of all applicants offered admission will “drop” (in a significant manner) only if the established admission standards are raised, or if the applicant pool (the 37k) somehow showed a precipitous decline in the number of qualified applicants, or the number of “early action” students accepting their offer of admission increased.

At present, JMU’s projected budgetary needs to fill those 4750 seats is balanced against raising or lowering admission standards. The “balancing act” is a delicate one.

The hope is that a larger pool of qualified applicants would result in a lower admission rate (as you suggest), however, the process is a bit more complicated and fluidly dynamic than that.

It's kind of interesting looking at admissions data from 2021 and 2022.

2021:
Applied: 22,288
Accepted: 18,276 (82%)
Enrolled: 4,750

2022:
Applied: 31,755
Accepted: 23,952 (75%)
Enrolled: 4,750

A couple interesting observations. First, our acceptance rate obviously fell. Any idea which of the three factors you called out was the primary driver of the decline? It seems like middle 50% test score ranges declined year over year, so it doesn't seem like admissions standards were raised. Then again, with optional test scores, those metrics provide fewer insights than they have in the past.

Second, our yield (% accepted applicants who enrolled) fell significantly. It's pretty interesting that we were able to increase the number of students accepted by 31% while keeping our enrollment perfectly flat. Any insights into how that was managed?

The common application seems to have substantially altered our applicant pool in some way. At a minimum, we seem to have accepted more students who didn't actually have strong interest in JMU. That sort of makes sense if you can apply to a school with the click of a button.

My guess is that the drop between 21 and 22 was mostly due to the increase in the size of the applicant pool, coupled with an increase in the acceptance rate in the early action group, which lowered the need to go deeper into the general admission pool to meet the enrollment target. But that’s just my educated guess.

The common application was the bigger factor, IMO, with possibly the higher profile of playing FBS FB beginning to play a role. Athletics may play a bigger role if JMU keeps winning.

It’s a dynamic situation…and because JMU is still struggling with scholarship money to lure the “top tier” undergrad applicants, and the pressure to grow the graduate programs, the next decade will be an interesting time in the history of JMU’s academic profile.

Out of curiosity, what's driving that pressure? Do additional grad programs help from a budget perspective? Is there a desire to move toward R1? I've heard others on the board and elsewhere allude to this pressure, but I'm not really clear on what's driving it.

It's an additional revenue source and moves us closer to R1. I don't think as a University we should be stagnant doing the same old same old rinse and repeat. It also will likely open up different fields too and expand to more programs.

Depending on what the program is, it could potentially help our national brand a few years out too.

(04-04-2023 07:20 PM)JMUDuke4Ever Wrote:  

(04-04-2023 04:19 PM)We Are the Dukes of JMU Wrote:  

(04-04-2023 12:38 PM)Longhorn Wrote:  

(04-04-2023 11:33 AM)We Are the Dukes of JMU Wrote:  

(04-04-2023 11:12 AM)Longhorn Wrote:  Not necessarily.

The admission rate (% of applicants offered admission) will not drop if all 37k met currently established admission standards. If all 37k met established admission criteria they would all be offered admission.

The % of all applicants offered admission will “drop” (in a significant manner) only if the established admission standards are raised, or if the applicant pool (the 37k) somehow showed a precipitous decline in the number of qualified applicants, or the number of “early action” students accepting their offer of admission increased.

At present, JMU’s projected budgetary needs to fill those 4750 seats is balanced against raising or lowering admission standards. The “balancing act” is a delicate one.

The hope is that a larger pool of qualified applicants would result in a lower admission rate (as you suggest), however, the process is a bit more complicated and fluidly dynamic than that.

It's kind of interesting looking at admissions data from 2021 and 2022.

2021:
Applied: 22,288
Accepted: 18,276 (82%)
Enrolled: 4,750

2022:
Applied: 31,755
Accepted: 23,952 (75%)
Enrolled: 4,750

A couple interesting observations. First, our acceptance rate obviously fell. Any idea which of the three factors you called out was the primary driver of the decline? It seems like middle 50% test score ranges declined year over year, so it doesn't seem like admissions standards were raised. Then again, with optional test scores, those metrics provide fewer insights than they have in the past.

Second, our yield (% accepted applicants who enrolled) fell significantly. It's pretty interesting that we were able to increase the number of students accepted by 31% while keeping our enrollment perfectly flat. Any insights into how that was managed?

The common application seems to have substantially altered our applicant pool in some way. At a minimum, we seem to have accepted more students who didn't actually have strong interest in JMU. That sort of makes sense if you can apply to a school with the click of a button.

My guess is that the drop between 21 and 22 was mostly due to the increase in the size of the applicant pool, coupled with an increase in the acceptance rate in the early action group, which lowered the need to go deeper into the general admission pool to meet the enrollment target. But that’s just my educated guess.

The common application was the bigger factor, IMO, with possibly the higher profile of playing FBS FB beginning to play a role. Athletics may play a bigger role if JMU keeps winning.

It’s a dynamic situation…and because JMU is still struggling with scholarship money to lure the “top tier” undergrad applicants, and the pressure to grow the graduate programs, the next decade will be an interesting time in the history of JMU’s academic profile.

Out of curiosity, what's driving that pressure? Do additional grad programs help from a budget perspective? Is there a desire to move toward R1? I've heard others on the board and elsewhere allude to this pressure, but I'm not really clear on what's driving it.

It's an additional revenue source and moves us closer to R1. I don't think as a University we should be stagnant doing the same old same old rinse and repeat. It also will likely open up different fields too and expand to more programs.

Depending on what the program is, it could potentially help our national brand a few years out too.

Obviously every incremental student results in incremental revenue, but depending on the cost of operating the additional grad program, adding graduate degrees doesn't necessarily have a positive net impact on the bottom line. Don't get me wrong, I assume our leadership thoughtfully analyzes these decisions. I just suspect that it's not as simple as "the more grad students the better".

Also, does JMU want to be R1? R1 isn't necessarily better than R2. It's just a different mission. I would much rather be an R2 like Wake Forest than an R1 like Wayne State. All else equal, I guess R1 is fine, but I'd rather see JMU focus on rating than classification right now.

Keep in mind that graduate students are a higher rate of outta state...more revenue...and certain programs are pricier than others ...more revenue

R1? Doubt that's on the 10 year plan

(04-04-2023 04:19 PM)We Are the Dukes of JMU Wrote:  

(04-04-2023 12:38 PM)Longhorn Wrote:  

(04-04-2023 11:33 AM)We Are the Dukes of JMU Wrote:  

(04-04-2023 11:12 AM)Longhorn Wrote:  

(04-04-2023 07:38 AM)JMU2004 Wrote:  Didn't know where to post this, but I saw JMU received just under 37k applications this year good for a roughly 17% increase from prior year. Class size is still 4,750.

Admit rate should also drop from the 75% of 2022, I would imagine.

Not necessarily.

The admission rate (% of applicants offered admission) will not drop if all 37k met currently established admission standards. If all 37k met established admission criteria they would all be offered admission.

The % of all applicants offered admission will “drop” (in a significant manner) only if the established admission standards are raised, or if the applicant pool (the 37k) somehow showed a precipitous decline in the number of qualified applicants, or the number of “early action” students accepting their offer of admission increased.

At present, JMU’s projected budgetary needs to fill those 4750 seats is balanced against raising or lowering admission standards. The “balancing act” is a delicate one.

The hope is that a larger pool of qualified applicants would result in a lower admission rate (as you suggest), however, the process is a bit more complicated and fluidly dynamic than that.

It's kind of interesting looking at admissions data from 2021 and 2022.

2021:
Applied: 22,288
Accepted: 18,276 (82%)
Enrolled: 4,750

2022:
Applied: 31,755
Accepted: 23,952 (75%)
Enrolled: 4,750

A couple interesting observations. First, our acceptance rate obviously fell. Any idea which of the three factors you called out was the primary driver of the decline? It seems like middle 50% test score ranges declined year over year, so it doesn't seem like admissions standards were raised. Then again, with optional test scores, those metrics provide fewer insights than they have in the past.

Second, our yield (% accepted applicants who enrolled) fell significantly. It's pretty interesting that we were able to increase the number of students accepted by 31% while keeping our enrollment perfectly flat. Any insights into how that was managed?

The common application seems to have substantially altered our applicant pool in some way. At a minimum, we seem to have accepted more students who didn't actually have strong interest in JMU. That sort of makes sense if you can apply to a school with the click of a button.

My guess is that the drop between 21 and 22 was mostly due to the increase in the size of the applicant pool, coupled with an increase in the acceptance rate in the early action group, which lowered the need to go deeper into the general admission pool to meet the enrollment target. But that’s just my educated guess.

The common application was the bigger factor, IMO, with possibly the higher profile of playing FBS FB beginning to play a role. Athletics may play a bigger role if JMU keeps winning.

It’s a dynamic situation…and because JMU is still struggling with scholarship money to lure the “top tier” undergrad applicants, and the pressure to grow the graduate programs, the next decade will be an interesting time in the history of JMU’s academic profile.

Out of curiosity, what's driving that pressure? Do additional grad programs help from a budget perspective? Is there a desire to move toward R1? I've heard others on the board and elsewhere allude to this pressure, but I'm not really clear on what's driving it.

The pressure (desire?) is related to a number of factors, not particularly related to budget issues, although grad programs are more expensive to support. Also, graduate programs are typically more likely to generate research dollars from external sources (which the university captures a portion, typically 7% of the research grant). The captured portion of a research grant becomes fungible, which allows the university flexibility in enhancing facilities, library resources, staffing, etc.

In Virginia instructional budgets for publics are not based on projected undergraduate, master or doctorate level enrollments. Hence there’s no particular financial incentives to grow any graduate program. In many public university systems (such as Texas and Ohio) a master degree program is funded (valued) in calculating state funding at approximately 2-3 times the level of an undergraduate credit, and a doctoral program at 4-6 times the level (depending on the area of study). If VA ever adopts a funding formula similar to Texas and Ohio, expanding graduate enrollments at JMU would be of greater financial benefit to the institution.

The pressure/desire to grow grad programs at JMU is more altruistic…a desire to offer needed advanced degree work to VA residents, but also to attract the best and brightest talents from outside the Commonwealth. In other words, it’s an investment, whose “payoff” is in providing a service that potentially improves the level of educated talent available to VA employers. There’s also the benefit that a strong graduate program helps elevate an institution’s academic profile when compared to its peers. At present, only a few of JMU’s grad programs are “nationally ranked”…the highest of which is the audiology program (which last I looked was somewhere in the mid-30s).

Finally, as an earlier poster suggested, grads pay a higher tuition, but this income is mitigated by the higher costs associated with supporting the advanced degree program, and if your grad program isn’t well-regarded, it’s hard to recruit the best talent into a program that has a middling profile. Hence the “pressure” to grow and improve graduate offerings at JMU. There is no agenda to pursue a path towards an R1 status, however, stronger grad programs will strengthen the institution’s R2 profile as well as enhance the ability to attract better students and external research grants.

(04-04-2023 11:12 AM)Longhorn Wrote:  

(04-04-2023 07:38 AM)JMU2004 Wrote:  Didn't know where to post this, but I saw JMU received just under 37k applications this year good for a roughly 17% increase from prior year. Class size is still 4,750.

Admit rate should also drop from the 75% of 2022, I would imagine.

Not necessarily.

The admission rate (% of applicants offered admission) will not drop if all 37k met currently established admission standards. If all 37k met established admission criteria they would all be offered admission.

The % of all applicants offered admission will “drop” (in a significant manner) only if the established admission standards are raised, or if the applicant pool (the 37k) somehow showed a precipitous decline in the number of qualified applicants, or the number of “early action” students accepting their offer of admission increased.

At present, JMU’s projected budgetary needs to fill those 4750 seats is balanced against raising or lowering admission standards. The “balancing act” is a delicate one.

The hope is that a larger pool of qualified applicants would result in a lower admission rate (as you suggest), however, the process is a bit more complicated and fluidly dynamic than that.

What? There is no way JMU would offer admission to all 37k if they met the standards. How could you possibly manage enrollment in that scenario?

I'm not going to get into a battle over this, but if you grow your applicant pool while maintaining the same target class size, then either the admit rate OR the yield has to drop, otherwise you are going to end up with a freshman class that you can not accommodate. Indeed, if the JMU admits 75% (2022 rate) of 37k and the yield is still ~ 20% (2022 rate) , then the freshman class will be nearly 5,550. Is JMU able to accommodate another 800 freshmen?

It is a delicate dance often managed through the wait list, but the admit rate will almost always go down as the applicant pool grows. The only caveat is for a school targeting enrollment growth.

So how are we accepting 18-23k yet still at the same enrollment number? Are only the first 4750 committing getting a seat at the table?

(04-05-2023 09:51 AM)Polish Hammer Wrote:  So how are we accepting 18-23k yet still at the same enrollment number? Are only the first 4750 committing getting a seat at the table?

Many students with the common app apply to multiple schools, and the "yield" (which above is stated ~20%) reflects the number that are accepted and actually enroll. As 2004 mentioned, unless the yield drops, we will either accept fewer students or grow enrollment/size.

I'm curious myself what is driving this, and if it's a statewide trend or we are outperforming other Virginia schools.

Random thoughts are some factors could include a shift in demographics or a wave of students entering college in general this year. Being on the common app is probably beneficial, and was long overdue, though I think this is at least the second year for that. Or it could be JMU is seeing a nice boost from entering FBS, and all the associated publicity.

It's probably hard to know for certain unless this reflects some larger trends around the state/country.

Any way you look at it, 17% application growth is very encouraging. End result over time is likely more selectivity, more enrollment, or both.

(04-05-2023 10:13 AM)JMURocks Wrote:  I'm curious myself what is driving this, and if it's a statewide trend or we are outperforming other Virginia schools.

Random thoughts are some factors could include a shift in demographics or a wave of students entering college in general this year. Being on the common app is probably beneficial, and was long overdue, though I think this is at least the second year for that. Or it could be JMU is seeing a nice boost from entering FBS, and all the associated publicity.

It's probably hard to know for certain unless this reflects some larger trends around the state/country.

Any way you look at it, 17% application growth is very encouraging. End result over time is likely more selectivity, more enrollment, or both.

All else equal, yes. But if the quality of the applicant pool declines, it could actually offset the increase in the quantity of applicants, which would result in a lower acceptance rate but arguably decrease selectivity. KInd of complicated with all the moving pieces.

(04-05-2023 10:16 AM)We Are the Dukes of JMU Wrote:  

(04-05-2023 10:13 AM)JMURocks Wrote:  I'm curious myself what is driving this, and if it's a statewide trend or we are outperforming other Virginia schools.

Random thoughts are some factors could include a shift in demographics or a wave of students entering college in general this year. Being on the common app is probably beneficial, and was long overdue, though I think this is at least the second year for that. Or it could be JMU is seeing a nice boost from entering FBS, and all the associated publicity.

It's probably hard to know for certain unless this reflects some larger trends around the state/country.

Any way you look at it, 17% application growth is very encouraging. End result over time is likely more selectivity, more enrollment, or both.

All else equal, yes. But if the quality of the applicant pool declines, it could actually offset the increase in the quantity of applicants, which would result in a lower acceptance rate but arguably decrease selectivity. KInd of complicated with all the moving pieces.

Seems highly improbable, particularly if the admissions process is well managed. You aren't likely to receive fewer well qualified students students when the pool grows. Even if all 17% additional applicants do not meet the standards and are denied, a lower acceptance rate tends to be looked at favorably in ratings like USNWR.

(04-05-2023 10:24 AM)JMURocks Wrote:  

(04-05-2023 10:16 AM)We Are the Dukes of JMU Wrote:  

(04-05-2023 10:13 AM)JMURocks Wrote:  I'm curious myself what is driving this, and if it's a statewide trend or we are outperforming other Virginia schools.

Random thoughts are some factors could include a shift in demographics or a wave of students entering college in general this year. Being on the common app is probably beneficial, and was long overdue, though I think this is at least the second year for that. Or it could be JMU is seeing a nice boost from entering FBS, and all the associated publicity.

It's probably hard to know for certain unless this reflects some larger trends around the state/country.

Any way you look at it, 17% application growth is very encouraging. End result over time is likely more selectivity, more enrollment, or both.

All else equal, yes. But if the quality of the applicant pool declines, it could actually offset the increase in the quantity of applicants, which would result in a lower acceptance rate but arguably decrease selectivity. KInd of complicated with all the moving pieces.

Seems highly improbable, particularly if the admissions process is well managed. You aren't likely to receive fewer well qualified students students when the pool grows. Even if all 17% additional applicants do not meet the standards and are denied, a lower acceptance rate tends to be looked at favorably in ratings like USNWR.

Doesn’t it currently look like we’re nothing but a safety net for potential students? We’ll accept 4 out of 5 applicants, but out of them only 1 in 5 chooses us and actually enrolls.

(04-05-2023 10:13 AM)JMURocks Wrote:  I'm curious myself what is driving this, and if it's a statewide trend or we are outperforming other Virginia schools.

Random thoughts are some factors could include a shift in demographics or a wave of students entering college in general this year. Being on the common app is probably beneficial, and was long overdue, though I think this is at least the second year for that. Or it could be JMU is seeing a nice boost from entering FBS, and all the associated publicity.

It's probably hard to know for certain unless this reflects some larger trends around the state/country.

Any way you look at it, 17% application growth is very encouraging. End result over time is likely more selectivity, more enrollment, or both.

Some schools are doing well. Think UVA, VT, JMU, and W&M are seeing strong application growth. Application growth should lead to stable enrollment.

Others are dealing with declining enrollment with VCU, ODU, and Radford being the ones that I've read about. Radford is in real trouble.

(04-05-2023 10:43 AM)Polish Hammer Wrote:  

(04-05-2023 10:24 AM)JMURocks Wrote:  

(04-05-2023 10:16 AM)We Are the Dukes of JMU Wrote:  

(04-05-2023 10:13 AM)JMURocks Wrote:  I'm curious myself what is driving this, and if it's a statewide trend or we are outperforming other Virginia schools.

Random thoughts are some factors could include a shift in demographics or a wave of students entering college in general this year. Being on the common app is probably beneficial, and was long overdue, though I think this is at least the second year for that. Or it could be JMU is seeing a nice boost from entering FBS, and all the associated publicity.

It's probably hard to know for certain unless this reflects some larger trends around the state/country.

Any way you look at it, 17% application growth is very encouraging. End result over time is likely more selectivity, more enrollment, or both.

All else equal, yes. But if the quality of the applicant pool declines, it could actually offset the increase in the quantity of applicants, which would result in a lower acceptance rate but arguably decrease selectivity. KInd of complicated with all the moving pieces.

Seems highly improbable, particularly if the admissions process is well managed. You aren't likely to receive fewer well qualified students students when the pool grows. Even if all 17% additional applicants do not meet the standards and are denied, a lower acceptance rate tends to be looked at favorably in ratings like USNWR.

Doesn’t it currently look like we’re nothing but a safety net for potential students? We’ll accept 4 out of 5 applicants, but out of them only 1 in 5 chooses us and actually enrolls.

It's all relative. The metrics are far worse for many schools, particularly those whose applications are shrinking. Very few schools are going to have an 80% yield. In terms of "safety net" , UVA or JMU could both be considered a safety net for students applying to schools like Harvard, Yale or Stanford. Intelligent students are likely to aim for some schools they get denied entry to. This is nothing new. As the pool grows, the acceptance rate is likely to drop however, unless the school pursues aggressive growth.

(04-04-2023 10:30 PM)We Are the Dukes of JMU Wrote:  Also, does JMU want to be R1?

As I've heard it straight from the mouths of administrators, R2 is where we want to be (no goals of pursuing R1).

(04-05-2023 10:24 AM)JMURocks Wrote:  Seems highly improbable, particularly if the admissions process is well managed. You aren't likely to receive fewer well qualified students students when the pool grows. Even if all 17% additional applicants do not meet the standards and are denied, a lower acceptance rate tends to be looked at favorably in ratings like USNWR.

Acceptance rate isn't considered in the USNWR rankings (at least not directly).

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-co...e-rankings

In theory, acceptance rates could have some level of influence on the "expert opinion" criteria, which accounts for 20% of a school's score. Anything that influences perception of a school could qualitatively influence that 20%.

(04-05-2023 11:10 AM)Deez Nuts Wrote:  

(04-04-2023 10:30 PM)We Are the Dukes of JMU Wrote:  Also, does JMU want to be R1?

As I've heard it straight from the mouths of administrators, R2 is where we want to be (no goals of pursuing R1).

That's what I've always heard as well and it makes sense to me. A lot of people fail to appreciate that R1 isn't "better" than R2. They're just different missions.

When you get into athletics discussions, a lot of poster from low-quality R1 schools make it seem like R1 vs. R2 designation makes a difference in conference realignment, because universities want to be with similar institutions.

I'm just a little skeptical. The SBC is a mix of R1, R2, and regionals. R2 designation also doesn't seem to be hurting schools like TCU, BYU, San Diego State, and (possibly) SMU as we look at conference realignment.