Yale's gatekeepers play tricky globalization game

By Zander Dryer

Rob Calihan and Freddy Peters were best friends at Andover. When the two applied to college in 1969, they both applied to Harvard and Yale. Rob had always wanted to go to Yale, and Freddy dreamed of joining his brother, Keto, at Harvard. But when the universities sent out acceptance letters on Apr. 1, 1970, both boys were disappointed. Rob got into Harvard and Freddy, BK '74, got into Yale. Over 80 boys in their class had applied to Harvard and Yale. About 40 got into Harvard and about 40 got into Yale. Only two boys got into both.

In the late 1960s, there was no "college process." The elite Northeastern universities catered mainly to the elite Northeastern prep schools. College officers at the prep schools would call their counterparts at the universities and tell them which "boys we're sending this year." The universities would then divide up the classes of the large schools like Andover, Exeter, and St. Paul's. The result was that students at universities like Yale mirrored the students at schools like Andover: they were white, affluent preppies.

How times have changed

It is, of course, old news that the world of Calihan and Peters no longer exists. Still, the rapidity and vastness of the change is impressive. The cutthroat "college process" begins earlier each year, with more and more students competing for the same number of spaces. The face of Yale is also quite different: 53 percent of the University's undergraduates attended public high school and 43 percent do not identify themselves as "white." Some of these are inevitable ripples from changes in the nation's culture; others, however, are more overtly the work of admissions officers.

And while colleges' outreach programs have raised the quality and diversity of applicants, they have also made new problems for themselves. "The recruiting of undergraduates has become more competitive," University President Richard Levin, GRD '74, said. "Schools are publishing better material and making a stronger effort to market their programs. We don't want to stand still and be complacent while others are trying very hard." And so Yale, one of the most prestigious institutions in the country, is forging ahead to hold on to its place at the top.

University Administrators insist that Yale is not launching new admissions efforts merely to draw more applicants and increase the University's aura of selectivity. In a pointed reference to the U.S. News and World Report ranking of the nation's top colleges, Dean of Yale College Richard Brodhead, BR '68, GRD '72, said Yale is unconcerned by "certain ratings that focus on numbers above analysis."

"Of course we want Yale to be as well known as it can be, but seeking a larger number of applicants simply to reject more is not in itself a worthy goal," he said. "It's not as if we used to do nothing and now we're starting dozens of new initiatives. We want to consolidate and extend existing efforts. Our goals are ambitious—but they are not discontinuous from what we've been doing."

That is certainly true, and particularly this year, Yale has moved quickly and undeniably to expand its admissions and recruiting efforts.

The international push

At the core of Yale's efforts is the new position of Director of Recruitment at the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. The Administration hopes the new post will help Yale attract more foreign students and people living in rural areas of the United States—two groups it has tried hard to reach.

The goal of that position is to focus full-time on our outreach programs," Dean of Admissions Richard Shaw explained. "Right now we have to fit our planning efforts into a busy schedule of traveling and reviewing applications—we don't have as much time as we'd like for long-term planning. We are looking for someone who will analyze the marketplace and develop programs both externally and on campus in order to appeal to more students. We want to spend high-quality time focused on reaching out to applicants and their families." Brodhead said it was simply a matter of making applicants "know what there is here—there's no need for us to exaggerate about that."

A key element in the effort to attract foreign students was the Admissions Office's adoption of "need-blind" admission for foreign students. "We've had a coherent and consistent aid policy for years," Shaw said. "There was just one piece of the puzzle out of place."

The new policy "puts everyone on the same footing," Shaw added. "We are now purely need-blind in the committee room. We will consider your application without considering your ability to pay. And as a result, we will be able to admit the most qualified students."

Levin largely agreed. "In terms of the admission of international students, over the last five or six years the limits on financial aid have forced us to skew that group toward wealthier countries," he said. "This move will hopefully give us greater international diversity. It's all geared to getting Yale the best possible class we can." Levin did say that "Harvard has had need-blind admissions for a long time. The other schools with whom we intend to compete for students have not had that. Our effort is to get out ahead."

The need-blind policy is not Yale's only initiative to attract more foreign students, however. "We are engaged in a self-conscious effort to increase the international presence on campus," Brodhead said, citing the World Fellows program and the Center for the Study of Globalization as examples. "We also do a lot more international visits than we did even two or three years ago."

Every year, Shaw's staff travels worldwide to promote Yale. The countries visited change every year, as Yale's admissions officers are constantly looking for new markets. "In the last three years we've really begun on focus on Central and South America," Shaw said. Bringing the promise of need-blind admission with them will certainly allow admissions officers to spread their message more easily around the world.

Yale now sends a business card-sized CD-ROM to certain prospective students as part of its expanded recruiting efforts.

Yale's focus on international students does not mean it is ignoring domestic applicants, however. Yale is currently considering the radical move of accepting the Common Application, which is accepted at 209 different colleges and universities. Harvard began accepting the Common Application six years ago.

"The Common Application is largely directed at reaching people who might be less inclined to apply," Levin said. "Our applicant pool has been pretty stable at roughly13,000 for a number of years, and while we think we get outstanding applicants, we think our specialized application means we might be missing students who might be thinking of applying to an Ivy League school, particularly students from parts of the country outside the Northeast and the Pacific Coast. Making it easier to apply might get more students to apply, perhaps from public schools where the college application process is not as sophisticated as at other schools."

A final decision on switching to the Common Application has not yet been made. The faculty committee on admissions policy will be reviewing the idea, and a group was to meet Thurs., Nov. 30 to discuss the proposal.

A digital future

Of course, Yale is making changes to the admissions department in a world in which communication technology is changing at an ever-quickening pace. "We are struggling to embrace the Internet," Shaw said. "It is a trite thing to say, but I consider the Internet to be the most revolutionary medium." Admissions officers hope to use the Web as a powerful new tool to reach previously unreachable applicants. A search is underway to find a new webmaster who will oversee a sweeping redesign of the current site. In the future, Shaw hopes a richer, more interactive site will help connect students directly to Yale.

While it works on its website, Yale's admissions department has also developed a business card-sized CD-ROM with video footage and links to the current website. The technology was originally developed for corporate use, and Yale has been the first school to adopt it. "It's the coolest thing," Brodhead said. "It's different and it gets kids interested," Shaw added.

But can they handle it?

As this article goes to press, Shaw and his admissions officers are holed up on Hillhouse Avenue, considering the deluge of Early Decision applications their office has received over the past few months. This year, early applications at Yale are up 19 percent, more than at any other Ivy League school. Though Shaw is currently leading the charge to attract more students to Yale, one wonders if he is prepared for the flood of new applications it may inspire. Levin commented that switching to the Common Application alone might draw in thousands of new applications. As he considered the prospect, he added, "We'd probably need to add staff."

Graphic by Sarah England.

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