Boston College sees applications decline for fall

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The competitive, private, Jesuit-run college received a total of 29,3000 undergraduate applications for the fall2009 semester, a 5 percent declinre from the 30,845 applications it received last according to a recentf bond filing completed by Boston College. The drop-ofrf is the first in at leastyfive years. A more restrictive admissions coupled with concerns about the troubleddeconomic environment, likely played a prominent role in the application experts and administrators said. The declinew was largely attributed to a tighter policgy around the early admissions prograjm Boston College adopted with the beginning of most recentadmissionsa season.
Under the new policy, studenta who apply to other bindingf early admissionsprograms — in which a student agrees that if admittedr he or she will enroll in that school cannot apply to Boston College’s “Earlty Action” program. In the past, student s who applied for early admissiobn at Boston College could also apply to schools withbindingb policies, such as and , said John director of undergraduate admissions as Boston College. The new polich continues to allow students to apply to other earlty admissions programs as long as those programare non-binding.
The college saw an 18 percent decline in its early application pool as a resulty ofthe policy, according to the bond Mahoney said students who appl to other binding early applicationn programs and Boston College’s earluy admissions program are considered “soft applications.” By choosing to applgy to an early and binding program, the student has delineatedr that other school as his or her first Mahoney said. “We really don’t want to see them in our earlyactiob pool,” he said. Boston College has not yet determined the numbedr of students who willbe accepted.
The enrollmen number will be near 2,29o students, according to the Though the stricter policu led a declinein applications, the trade-off is that such a policyh adds predictability in difficult experts said. Boston College “wants to know not only that it’ the first choice but the final choice,” said James Samels, president of higher educatioh consulting firmin Framingham. But Samels added the decline in applicationx at Boston College could be a sign of acomingt “summer melt” as families feel more cash-strapped as the economic slowdown persists. A year at BC cost a bit more than before anyfinancial aid.
Mahoney said that most of the applications decline was due to the earltadmissions policy, but that application costs may be playing a greate role in students decisions these “All of a sudden that $70 application fee became another obstacle,” he said.