Mythbusters: Affordability and Socioeconomic Diversity

February 1, 2012 – 5:55 pm

February 15 is the deadline for this year’s applicants to apply for financial aid at Richmond. Parents, make sure you’re on track to get the proper paperwork filled out – just follow the steps on our financial aid application timeline.

But the financial aid deadline also provides me a great opportunity to speak to everyone – seniors, juniors, sophomores, parents, et al. – about financial aid and socioeconomic diversity at Richmond. This is an area where the reputation of the University lags (by decades) behind the reality. Put simply, longstanding stereotypes tend to paint Richmond as a wealthy, upper-class university for the rich – or, just as bad, “one of the most expensive colleges in the nation.” But these stereotypes could not be further from the truth.

Think Richmond isn’t an affordable college? Or that it isn’t a socioeconomically diverse place? Think again. 70% of our students receive financial aid. Around 2,000 students (about 2/3 of our student body) hold jobs on campus each year (some via federal work-study, others of their own accord). 1 out of every 6 students at Richmond qualifies for federal Pell funding; we’re matching the $2 million we’re getting from the federal government this year with nearly $20 million of our own funding. In total, we’re spending about $65 million this year, from our own resources, on financial aid for a student body of just over 3,000. And the average need-based aid package this year is $40,200. (Yes, you read that number correctly. For students receiving need-based aid at Richmond, the average out-of-pocket cost this year is $12,220 for tuition, room and board. That’s not marketing gimmickry; it’s simple math. And it’s a hard price to beat these days, even at a public university. See this recent article and the linked College Cost Chart, which calculates that for a family with $75,000 in income, Richmond’s actual price is the second-lowest in Virginia, lower than every public university on the list.)

If that’s not putting your money where your mouth is, I’m not sure what is.

There are two big guarantees we make that help ensure an affordable private education and a socioeconomically diverse student body. The first guarantee is that we are need-blind in admission. This term confuses a lot of people, because it sounds negative – but it’s not. It means, quite simply, that we don’t consider your or your family’s finances when making admission decisions. (Another way of putting it would be to say that we are income-blind or wealth-blind in admission.) The second guarantee is that we will meet 100% of demonstrated need for every student who enrolls. Your demonstrated need is calculated via the FAFSA and PROFILE forms, which are used by colleges across the nation to assess how much you and your family can afford to pay; however, only a small percentage of colleges (fewer than 70, at last count) guarantee that they’ll actually fund the remainder of the cost. Richmond is one of these. When you pare the list to colleges that are also need-blind in admission, the number drops to below 35 and represents less than 1% of colleges nationwide.

Our president often says that the University of Richmond is a private university for the public good. In an era when government funding is shrinking and the quality of education at even the best public institutions is in jeopardy, Richmond is using its substantial financial resources to make a high-quality, private, liberal arts education affordable for students of all socioeconomic backgrounds. The stereotypes just don’t hold; our student body is highly diverse, increasingly so each year.

The bottom line? Only 45% of students in Richmond’s Class of 2011 graduated with college loan debt. And the average debt for these students was $22,500, well below the national average.

Not bad for “one of the most expensive colleges in the nation.”

By Tom | Posted in Application Process, Mythbusters, Scholarships/Financial Aid | Leave a Comment

For Those on the Fence

January 12, 2012 – 2:40 pm

At this point in time, there’s probably not much more I can say here to convince you to apply to Richmond. You’ve likely decided one way or the other already – though, if you’re a high school senior visiting our site right now, perhaps you’re not quite decided yet. I’m guessing you’ve received lots of brochures and e-mails from us – along with those from dozens of other colleges – and, while I’m proud of the fact that we don’t have to exaggerate in any of those communications to tell you how amazing Richmond is, I know that there are a lot of great colleges out there with a lot of great things to say. You’ve heard it all, from a lot of different places.

So all I’m going to do right now is something I don’t often do: step outside of the admission profession and write to you briefly as a University of Richmond alumnus.

I’ve spent the last four and a half years of my life trying to convince high school students to apply to Richmond and to enroll at Richmond. I haven’t been doing this for the money – there’s not much to be had in college admission, though a stable job in this economy isn’t to be laughed at either – nor, when I’m honest with myself, have I been doing this because of a deep passion for the college admission profession itself (though many of my colleagues have that passion, and I admire them for it). My greatest satisfaction in this job, and my greatest motivation, is simply that I love my alma mater. In short, I want you to apply to Richmond because it’s an amazing place, and I know that firsthand.

I had an incredible undergraduate experience here. For a kid who hadn’t ever heard of the University of Richmond when he started his college search, I found in Richmond every bit of the academic, intellectual, and residential community I was seeking in a college. I made fast friends, the kind who sit in the dining hall for hours on a Friday afternoon talking world politics, literary analysis, or scientific ethics (but can be found a little later playing intramural soccer, playing Xbox, or sledding down the Boatwright Lawn on the trays that recently carried their meals). Professors transcended the categories of teacher and mentor and became friends – and the time spent in their offices conversing one-on-one was just as much a part of the learning process as the time spent in the classroom. I helped create two independent studies, and when it came time to study abroad, I was able to do so with very little red tape and a great deal of financial support from the University. I think, as a student here, you just get used to the vast resources available to you; it’s only when you talk to friends at other colleges that you remember how unique it is to have such breadth of opportunities combined with such personal attention (I’m thinking especially, from my own experience, of study abroad, research with faculty, career services, well-funded student organizations, and the sincere, holistic concern for students’ well-being and growth in all aspects of their lives that permeates University staff and administrators).

Some of my fondest memories, if I may wax nostalgic for a moment (feel free to skip this paragraph), include that first summer phone call with my freshman roommate (awkward for the first two minutes until we realized that we’d get along famously; now one of my best friends, he’s coming to visit in a few weeks before heading to the Ukraine to serve with the Peace Corps and finish his Master’s in International Affairs); meeting with three other students and a professor at 7 a.m. on Monday mornings for an independent, self-created study of Anglo-Saxon and Beowulf (not because we were morning people, but because that’s the only time we could all meet and we were just that passionate about the subject); participating in all-night marathon reading of Paradise Lost organized by our Milton professor (he brought the caffeine, we brought the food); spending a deeply immersed semester abroad at the Universität Münster in Germany (during the 2006 World Cup!) and visiting Richmond friends in Stockholm, London, Paris, and Edinburgh; spending Saturday afternoons in quirky coffee shops downtown or relaxing on the James (and realizing, sometime during my senior year, that I loved the city and wanted to stay in Richmond after graduating); staying awake for nearly 72 hours straight in seclusion with my senior year roommate completing our theses (mine a comparative analysis of British and German fairy tales, Cornelia Funke, and Harry Potter, his a historiographical study of the Opium Wars that went on to win the American Historical Association’s top prize for undergraduate writing); gathering with fellow alumni to watch the Spiders win a national championship in football just a year and a half after we graduated (and losing my voice in the process); watching with pride (and some surprise) as both of my younger sisters became Spiders themselves (one a biochemistry major now doing AIDS research in a top graduate program, the other a classical civilization/studio art double-major now working as a graphic designer); and, most personally and recently, marrying a close friend from college (who has since graduation become my best friend; our wedding party was composed almost entirely of Richmond alumni).

Rankings and reputation and success stories and accolades aside, the University of Richmond is an incredibly special place and an incredibly special community. I didn’t necessarily know that when I applied – but I’m so very, very glad that I chose to apply. And the fact that I’m still here, nine years after applying, is in part my own testament to just how special this place is.

So apply. If you end up here, you won’t regret it.

By Tom | Posted in Application Process, College Search, Miscellaneous | Comments (2)

Richmond Scholars Semi-Finalists, and Happy Holidays!

December 22, 2011 – 6:18 pm

For all students who applied by December 1 for Richmond Scholars consideration, following is an update on the process and where we go from here. But first, I want to wish everyone happy holidays on behalf of Richmond’s Office of Admission! The University will be closing this afternoon at 5:00 and will reopen at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, January 3. If you have any urgent admission questions, we’ll be ready to answer them first thing when we return; for now, we need to rest up for the marathon that awaits us when we return: selecting a class. Be sure to read the Don’t Freak Out post if you’re worried about the completeness of your application.

As in past years, we’re planning to select between 400 and 500 semi-finalists for the Richmond Scholars program; we received upwards of 5400 applications by the December 1 deadline, so, as always, there will be many difficult decisions for the admission and faculty committees to make. Please, as always, keep in mind that our applicant pool is not distributed the way your high school is; the vast majority of our applicants come from the top 20% of their high school class, have excellent standardized testing scores, and are leaders in their school communities. Our faculty are looking for the best among these best – the students who go way above and beyond this baseline, academically and personally – and no student advances based solely on strong academics.

As for the process, we notify semi-finalists in batches, via the e-mail address provided on your application, from mid-December through mid- to late January. Some of you may have already received notification, as our first batch went out last week. Each batch is given a unique deadline by which to submit additional semi-finalist materials – generally about 2 or 3 weeks’ time. If you’re wondering why we do this whole process in such a segmented way, it’s because Richmond Scholars consideration is intensive and takes a lot of time. We won’t be able to review all December 1 applicants until near the end of January, but the committees need to begin reviewing semi-finalists at the beginning of January in order to stay on pace, so we notify semi-finalists as we go along. The order in which your application is read and/or moves on to the semi-finalist stage has no bearing on its consideration; this order is also pretty random, so don’t try to extrapolate too much based on dates.

We only notify semi-finalists, so students who do not advance will not be notified but will continue to be considered for admission, a process that occurs primarily in February and March along with all January 15 Regular Decision applicants. If you don’t hear from us by the end of January, it’s safe to assume you have not advanced in the Richmond Scholars process. Keep in mind, though, that there are a variety of other scholarships (not to mention need-based aid) still up for grabs; Richmond Scholars is only one program among many we offer.

By Tom | Posted in Application Process, Inside the Admission Office, Scholarships/Financial Aid | Leave a Comment

Early Decision Decisions

December 12, 2011 – 3:24 pm

Attention all Fall Early Decision applicants: keep an eye on your mailboxes. Decisions were mailed on Friday via the U.S. Postal Service, and they should be arriving soon.

Richmond maintains a traditional postal mail notification process, which means we don’t notify online or via e-mail (except for students living outside the United States, who receive e-mail notification). Which means, for most of you, that some good, old-fashioned mailbox stalking may be in order.

To all admitted students: Congratulations on behalf of the admission committee and the University community! This year’s Fall Early Decision pool was the largest in our history, and decisions were extremely difficult to make. You represent approximately one third of Richmond’s Class of 2016, the first big step in creating our next class, and you were selected carefully and individually for the myriad of accomplishments, talents, and experiences you’ll bring with you. You should be incredibly proud.

You’ll need to deposit by January 3 in order to secure your place in the class. The online deposit option will become available later this week – likely sometime on Wednesday. In the meantime, be sure to visit our admitted student page and join the Class of 2016 Facebook group. Once we start receiving deposits, markers will start appearing on the Class of 2016 Google Map, so keep an eye on that, too. And later this week, the form will open up for you to submit information to receive your class t-shirt!

To students who have been deferred into the Regular Decision pool: Take a deep breath and regroup. There are two main reasons that we defer applications to RD. In the majority of cases, the committee simply wants to see these applications in the context of the entire applicant pool, before we make a final decision. In some cases, however, there may be something specific the committee wants to see – for example, your full first semester grades, if your first quarter grades were of concern or if you had a significant dip in your junior year and the committee wants to see a full semester’s recovery. Deferred students should feel free to contact their regional counselor and ask if there’s anything more they can do to improve their application in Regular Decision; just keep in mind that nine times out of ten, the answer will be no, the committee just wants to review your application in light of the whole applicant pool. Every year there are deferred students who are admitted in Regular Decision (though you are no longer bound by the ED contract, in that event).

Students who were not admitted are students that the committee felt would simply not be competitive in Regular Decision. We’re grateful for your interest in Richmond, but admission is highly selective, and we can only accommodate a small portion of applicants. If your heart remains set on Richmond beyond this application cycle, we encourage you to consider applying as a transfer student after a successful year at another institution; feel free to contact us if you have any questions about this option or even about what sort of curriculum to pursue in order to make your transfer application more competitive.

Questions? Post away!

By Tom | Posted in Admission Tips, Application Process, Inside the Admission Office | Leave a Comment

Don’t Freak Out 2011

December 1, 2011 – 11:27 am

With the Richmond Scholars deadline today, we have a lot of anxious students and parents on the phone, asking whether their applications are complete and everything has arrived. I know you want to confirm everything as soon as possible, but please take a deep breath and… wait. We’re dealing with thousands of applications, and, even after the different parts of your application arrive here, it can take a little while for everything to come together in the same place. We have an incredible operations staff who meticulously file everything away, but with the volume we’re receiving, it takes some time. So don’t pick up that phone to call us just yet! Here’s what you need to know first, and this can help make the process much smoother and less stressful for all of us.

When you apply, here’s what will happen from your perspective:

• Shortly after submitting your application electronically, you should get an e-mail from the Common Application confirming your submission.

• Within three or four business days of our receiving your application, you should receive an e-mail from our office acknowledging that we have received it and reminding you of the other required pieces (transcript, letter of recommendation, etc.) This is not to say that we have not received those pieces already – it is a form e-mail that goes out to everybody who applies, not a specialized e-mail telling you we’re missing those things.

• Within two weeks of applying, you will receive a letter in the mail, which will give you a login and password for BannerWeb, our online filing system. Using that information, you can log in and actually see which pieces of your application we have received and which we haven’t. Make sure you keep that letter – while we do our best to let you know if we’re missing anything, it is ultimately your responsibility to check and make sure your application is complete.

And, for the curious, here’s why it happens this way, based on how things happen on our end:

• You click “Submit” on the Common Application.

• Every morning, a member of our operations staff downloads all of the applications from Common App that have been submitted in the previous 24 hours. (Note that the applications don’t automatically come to us − this is a common misconception. We have to go get them from Common App, and it’s a manual daily process.)

• The applications have to be entered into our application processing/tracking system, BannerWeb. This takes some time (a day or two) when we’re dealing with hundreds of applications on a daily basis and making sure everything is done accurately.

• Once an application is safely in BannerWeb, we send the e-mail to let you know that we’ve received it. This e-mail is generated automatically once per day (so any applications entered after it is sent won’t get the e-mail until the following business day).

• The applications are printed out, one at a time. A unique folder is created for each application. Each folder is cross-referenced against any materials that have already been received/filed for the same student (e.g. if your high school sent your school report and transcript earlier, or if letters of recommendation have already arrived).

• Once applications are safely in our giant, super-high-tech filing cabinet (seriously, you should see it), we send the letter with your login information for BannerWeb, so you can see for yourself what’s been entered in our system. This letter is generated and printed once every other day. We wish we could just send an e-mail – it would be quicker and more frequent – but University policy and FERPA don’t allow us to provide login and password information by any method but print. (This is also why we can’t give you your login/password over the phone.)

• At various points, other materials will be submitted, either electronically or through the mail, by your school and/or references. Once received, these materials are sorted, matched with the proper application, and entered into BannerWeb. We’re receiving more than one thousand pieces of mail per day at this time of year, so this can take a little time.

As long as all of your materials are postmarked or submitted electronically by the proper deadline, you should be good to go. If you receive our letter two weeks later, log into BannerWeb, and discover that something is missing, that is the time to call our office – and don’t worry, because even after the deadline we will be able to accept materials, if for some reason they did not make it here in the first place. We would rather you wait until you receive the letter, check BannerWeb for yourself, and call us after the deadline, than call us sooner, when materials might still be in the mail or in processing and we can’t confirm anything for you.

There’s been some confusion this year about the deadline for the Richmond Supplement. Our website says everything is due December 1 for the Richmond Scholars deadline, while the supplement itself says that it is not due until December 15. We apologize for any confusion this has caused; really, we’d prefer to receive the supplement as close to the December 1 deadline as possible, but because some students are not notified about the supplement until after they submit the Common Application, we wanted to avoid causing undue stress. It’s fine if your Richmond Supplement is submitted after December 1, as long as you have it in by the 15th. (This is true, too, for other materials like high school transcripts; we know that some schools will be late in submitting them, and we won’t penalize you for that.)

So the message is: don’t freak out. We’ve got you covered.

By Tom | Posted in Admission Tips, Application Process, Inside the Admission Office | Comments (2)
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