The University of Washington expects 4,400 freshmen this fall, breaking the record of 4,373 set in 1965. However, total fall enrollment is projected at 34,600, still below the record of 37,547 set in 1979.
Signs of the “baby boom echo” are beginning to hit the campus. The Class of 2001 will be about 300 students larger than last year’s class. Extra state funding allows for more spaces, explains Admissions Director W.W. “Tim” Washburn. Also, more students accepted offers than in past years.
Applications trickled into the UW at first, then came a flood of last-minute entries. “Everyone is calling the Class of 2001 the ‘last-minute class,'” explains Admissions Associate Director John Swiney. “We literally received 5,000 applications in one week.” When it was over, the UW had a near-record 12,886 freshman applications.
The admissions office isn’t the only place on campus breaking records. More freshmen went through summer orientation this year than ever before and the UW’s residence halls are at capacity for the first time in more than a decade.
The UW is opening living space that had been mothballed, such as the east wing of Mercer Hall, and is converting single rooms to doubles.
“We’ve done everything we can. We’ve looked under every rock to find a place for a bed,” says Housing and Food Services Finance Director Nancy Hyde.
She projects total capacity at 4,516 residents this fall, up from 4,165 last year. Besides extra freshmen, Hyde also reports a boom in returning residents—about 250 more than last year. Some last-minute applicants will have to use temporary space set up in student lounges during the first weeks of classes, she warns.
While other state universities are struggling to meet enrollment targets, applications are steady at the UW.
Washburn reports that 7,634 residents and 5,252 non-residents applied for entry as freshmen. On the first day of classes, there will be about 3,740 freshmen from Washington and 660 nonresident freshmen.
“We are a quality institution,” says Washburn. “Across the nation the UW is held in high esteem,” he adds, noting that non-resident applications are at record levels. For state residents, location in the heavily populated Puget Sound region is also a factor. “We are where the people are,” he says.
There was a new twist to the UW freshman application this year: Students had to write a two-page “personal statement.” The UW asked students to write about themselves, explaining what might be missing from the straight academic record.
Readers evaluated the statements for both form and content. They looked for information on personal, educational and economic disadvantages; contributions to cultural diversity; and extracurricular activities and service.
“The statements were very helpful to us. We better understood the applicant as an individual,” says Washburn.
For about 2,000 applications that fell below the UW ‘s automatic cut-off, it made the difference between becoming a Husky and being rejected. “We admitted about two-thirds of that group, much of our decision based on their statements,” says Swiney.
For this fall, students with at least a 1,050 SAT score and a 3.42 high school G.P.A. were automatically admitted. As enrollment pressures increase over the next few years, Washburn expects these numbers to go up. “It is not clear that next year’s freshman class can be much larger than what we’ve got,” he warns.