Inside Furman is published monthly during the school year by the Furman University Department of Marketing and Public Relations. For story ideas, e-mail John Roberts, editor.
Class of 2007:
Greater diversity, higher SAT scores
The bar, it seems, has been raised again.
The incoming freshman class that arrives in September has set new records in nearly every positive enrollment statistic. Geographic and ethnic diversity are up. So are applications and Scholastic Aptitude Test scores.
The average SAT score for the 716-member class is 1280 - 18 points higher than last year. Admissions Director Woody O'Cain attributes the dramatic jump in SAT scores, in part, to a campaign of aggressively targeting high school students with the highest academic profiles. While the acceptance rate for the Class of 2007 is that same as last year (59 percent), O'Cain says the quality of the applicant pool has increased.
"We are working with students who have more options because of their academic records. Competition is fierce for these students, but more and more we are winning the battle in this new league," he says. "And we aren't just going after the kids with the highest SAT scores, we're looking for well-rounded students."
The group of incoming freshmen also includes 80 minorities, or just over 11 percent of the class. A record number of minorities - 507 - applied to Furman.
"An important element in recruiting is word of mouth, and I think many of our minority students are having satisfying experiences here and are telling their friends about it," says O'Cain.
He
added that the new Hartness Welcome Center, Furman's growing national reputation
and a distinctive admissions web page
This year, Furman climbed to No. 41 in "Best Liberal Arts Colleges - Bachelor's," ranking that is compiled by U.S. News and World Report, up from 44 in 2002. The university also ranked high in the magazine's "Programs That Really Work," a new category that lists "outstanding examples of academic programs that lead to student success." Furman was ranked No. 4 nationally in "Undergraduate research/Creative projects," behind Stanford, MIT and Michigan.
Some
more interesting facts about the Class of 2007:
· Applications from South Carolina, Tennessee, Florida, North Carolina
and Virginia were up while applications in Georgia fell 14 percent. Eight
hundred and forty-one students from South Carolina applied to Furman.
· The number of students submitting on-line applications increased
from 622 last year to 1,219 in 2003.
· Due to the uncertain international situation, the number of international
students applying to Furman fell to 119 this year compared with 130 in 2000.
· The recruitment of male students, who generally tend to prefer larger
state school settings, continues to be a challenge. About 60 percent of the
applicants this year were female.
