TCU receives more online applications
By Brent Yarina
Staff Reporter

The number of prospective students applying online has more than doubled over the last year and is contributing to the university’s record number of applications, Dean of Admissions Ray Brown said Wednesday.

Out of the 7,600 applications the university received this year, Brown said, 2,500 of them, or nearly 33 percent, were submitted electronically. Last year, only 1,100, applications, or 17.9 percent, were submitted online, and in 2001 fewer than 100 prospective students chose to apply electronically, he said.

“The reason we began doing this was simply to reflect the times,” Brown said. “Students are becoming more and more accustomed to doing things online and applying to college should be no different.”

Brown said the department expects that within the next five years, the paper application will no longer be offered and that applications will only be submitted electronically. Until that day, he said, the university will continue to allow paper and online applications, which means incurring a higher cost.

“If one of the options for students is electronic, for those who are comfortable with the technology, it becomes a matter of ‘Why not apply online?’” he said.

By offering applications online, the university is not necessarily guaranteed a greater number of applications or a better pool of applicants but, with the online option, prospective students are given an alternative way to apply to college, Brown said.

This year, students who applied electronically have been accepted or offered admission at a higher percentage than those students who submitted hard copy applications, he said. Brown said he credits this to a “shift” that has occurred in the application process, convincing students that applying electronically is the way to go.

Mike Scott, director of scholarships and student financial aid, said the university’s decision to start offering online applications in 2001 has been extremely successful in making the application process easier.

“Online applications speed up our ability to get back to the student,” he said. “The less barriers we put up for the students to apply, the better.”

Brown said the admissions department has not realized any significant savings in time or paperwork since the online application was created. He said students who apply online are still responsible to send the university counselor and teacher recommendations, transcripts, activity lists and the $35 application fee.

“It may make one aspect of the process more convenient but, anybody who is going through the completion via this method is not casual about his or her interests to attend TCU,” he said.

Brown said the downsides to offering online applications are that it has yielded a 10 percent rate in incomplete applications this year and that it takes away from the personality of a handwritten application.

Lindsey Hanvey, a Centenary College freshman who plans to transfer to TCU, said she applied for admission online and that she experienced no difficulties. Hanvey said as soon as she submitted her application to the university, she received an e-mail from the admissions department confirming that they had received it.

“Applying online is more convenient because you’re given more time to fill it out since the application isn’t due until the deadline,” she said. “I’ve applied both ways now and I find applying online to be much easier.”

Brent Yarina