Colleges compete for dwindling pool of applicants

The College of the Atlantic made a splash last fall when it held a reception for prospective students in New York Harbor, aboard the historic schooner Harvey Gamage. Media around the nation — from education trade journals to the Chicago Tribune — hailed the event as a recruiting party for the ’90s, lavish entertainment to woo college applicants from a shrinking pool of high school graduates.

College of the Atlantic officials maintain it was not the high-stakes bid for bodies portrayed in some reports. The Harvey Gamage, which the college uses for many activities in the Gulf of Maine, happened to be in New York. The skipper had some free time in the harbor and offered the college use of the boat.

“The boat was given to us for free. If we had to pay for it, we never would have done it,” said Steve Thomas, director of admissions at COA.

If reports of wining and dining were greatly exaggerated, however, few admissions officials in Maine disagree with the gist of those stories: undergraduate institutions are now working harder than ever to maintain their pool of applicants, and to enroll the students they accept.

“It is more competitive,” said Colby College Dean of Admissions Parker Beverage. “It’s more of a buyer’s market now because of the demographic picture. The number of 17-year-olds graduating from high school is shrinking.”

William Munsey, director of admissions for the University of Maine at Orono, said that at the same time the number of prospective students declined, their choices for undergraduate education continued to multiply.

In the face of that barrage of information, Munsey said that institutions had to make face-to-face contact with prospectives. The university’s eight full-time admissions officers visit more than 400 high schools each fall, along with college nights and college fairs throughout the region. At Colby, a staff of seven visits 500 high schools a year.

Bowdoin College, which saw a 6 percent drop in applicants this year after a 5 percent drop last year, has taken a new tack in visiting high schools. Bowdoin now targets five or six cities each year, taking current undergraduates along to visit their hometown schools.

According to Bowdoin spokesman Scott Hood, the school now attracts nearly two-thirds of its students from outside New England, compared to a traditional 50-50 split between New England and the rest of the nation.

Admissions officials said they were also making the effort to identify their institutions more clearly.

At COA, which mails out packets to more than 35,000 high school seniors for a freshman class of 50, next year’s brochures will be printed on recycled paper — a clear statement from an institution that offers its only degree in “Human Ecology.”

Colby prints all its brochures in-house, and tries to let the campus speak for itself through pictures. “We work to achieve a viewbook and a set of materials . . . with a touch of class,” Beverage said.

But even with a battery of brochures, videos, computer disks, parties and alumni events, admissions officers around the state agree that the single most important tool for both the college and the student is the campus visit.

“We think if you’re going to spend four years of your life at a place, it is important to come see it for yourself,” Munsey said.