UConn should accept more students
Does wider acceptance “dilute” the merits of a UConn grad? Not if the education itself is top-notch, which UConn should be striving for anyway.
Late March is the time for the last university acceptances to go out nationwide. University of Connecticut, and eastern Connecticut as a whole, would benefit by accepting a significantly higher number of students.
Higher acceptances can come with very little increase in costs. Freshmen who put UConn as one of their top choices will double-up in a dorm or enlist in off-campus housing — a boon to many AirBnB homeowners, and a spur to reopen some eastern Connecticut hotels. There is no need to add professors, and little to no need for extra administrators.
Class size is irrelevant once students reach sixth grade. A lecture attended by 100 students is just as effective as one attended by 140. A “small discussion” class is enlivened by a few more students, especially if they add intellectual diversity.
My suggestion is to accept every applicant with above-average SAT or ACT scores. (If there’s truly some cap on space then make the acceptances “good til filled,” just as first-class airline seats are.) The matriculation rate, the conversion of those accepted to those who enroll, will likely be high, and that’s a good element for future college rankings. This year, it should be very high as its nationally televised men’s and women’s basketball teams have a good probability of each reaching the “Elite Eight.”
Does wider acceptance “dilute” the merits of a UConn grad? Not if the education itself is topnotch, which UConn should be striving for anyway. Student body size alone is irrelevant to perceived merit. Three large and two very large state universities are accorded high rankings nationally (UCLA, UFlorida, UMichigan, UTexas, and UVirginia). UConn should join that marquee list. No employer or grad school admissions committee denies UMichigan grads because they attended a large school. Indeed, the “network” opportunities for students expand, exponentially when using Linkedin’s “fourth degree of contact” mechanisms, when the student body is enlarged.
There’s also an argument that student admissions should no longer be based on traditional markers of “merit.” While I believe in the SAT and ACT as standards, and admire the semi-standard of GPA, to the extent references, extra-curricular activities, and life circumstances are difficult to judge, admissions committees would be well-served to say “we are delaying our judgment; come to UConn and we’ll all see how you thrive.”
If UConn truly needs to show a very select group of eventual graduates, then let it keep its number of “cum laude/ with honors” slots. Along the way, let students competing and thriving in an enlarged student body give themselves more chances for success, and elevate the state’s reputation along the way.