The higher education budget crisis in California is causing shockwaves at universities across the United States as students seek options beyond the UCs’ and CSUs’.  Even on the east coast, at institutions like Bryn Mawr, Haverford, and Swarthmore; California applications and admissions are up significantly and Californians now outnumber New Yorkers at these schools.

The impact on private and public universities closer to the west coast is even more pronounced.  For example: Chapman University, a mid-sized private school in Orange, CA saw a 30%+ increase in applications for the incoming class of 2011. University of Arizona saw thousands of applications from Californians in the days after UC acceptances were posted. But, nowhere is the impact greater than at the University of Oregon where significant changes are coming for the applicants for the class of 2012.

Oregon saw 25% growth in both 2010 and 2011 applications. While the number of California applications has not yet been released, admissions officials do admit that Californians have impacted the class diversity and applicant base.   In 2010, Oregon offered 623 students places on their waitlist, 306 acknowledged remaining on the waitlist, and 142 were ultimately offered admissions. However, in 2011, the waitlist has grown threefold; 2300 students were offered waitlist slots, 1100 confirmed and they anticipate offering 900 students admissions, with a majority of those with GPA’s between 2.9 and 3.3.  This would indicate that while Californians are applying in droves, those with GPA’s over 3.4 are not ultimately matriculating at Oregon.

Therefore, Oregon is about to announce significant changes to its admissions processes and policies.  While these are not yet published as final, these changes are being communicated unofficially to counselors and students who request information. Here are the salient portions of the changes for 2012 applicants:

·      Eliminated: The automatic admissions for students earning a 3.4 GPA or higher.  This guaranteed admission was a simple application and fee; making it easy for those who met this threshold to apply. It will be interesting to see if this results in less applications for those that now need to do yet another essay and application (since Oregon is not on the common app).  Perhaps this is one of Oregon’s desired outcomes?

·      Modified: More holistic reviews.  The admissions office specifically called out to me their review of the essay, extracurricular activities, and curriculum as part of their admissions process.  However, they also enumerated that even fabulous extracurriculars would not compensate for extraordinarily low GPA or test scores.  This would however, let Oregon accept students who are below their historical automatic threshold earlier in the application cycle.

·      Added: Essay required of all applicants. In the past, essays were only required of those who did not meet the automatic admissions requirements. There are a number of implications: less applications submitted, more work for the admissions office, potentially better balanced classes as holistic applications reviews look beyond the GPA, and a chance for a student to express why Oregon is the school for them.

·      Added: 1 additional college prep class requirement.  Oregon has increased to 3 years for Science requirement.  This includes a minimum of 1 lab science.

In lieu of the automatic acceptance, Oregon is offering a non-binding early notification option for applications submitted by November.  Early submitters will be notified of admissions status by early January.

Housing policies have been modified as well, so that only freshmen will be offered housing. Therefore, housing will be guaranteed for all freshmen.

In a time when unpredictability trumps reach, target, or safety categories, University of Oregon’s new admissions policies will ratchet up stress on students up and down the western seaboard.