Longwood University has received a record number of applicants for the upcoming class of 2020, many of which believe the Vice Presidential debate to be a major contributing factor.
The application increase refers strictly to the freshman class and does not include transfer students. The increase stems from both in-state and out-of-state applications.
“Our reputation as an institution has increased within the state, great faculty-student ratio, a beautiful campus and the debate all have given us recognition,” said Victoria Kindon, vice president for Strategic Operations and chief information officer of Information Technology Services at Longwood.
“It seems to be a stronger academic student (applying),” said Johnice Brown, director of Undergraduate Recruitment, of the type of students applying this year.
The Admissions staff for Longwood has increased outreach by direct contact, encouraging students to apply, which has also contributed to the increase in applicants, according to Brown.
“We (the Admissions department) have been starting to talk to freshmen and sophomores,” explained Kindon.
Kindon went on to further explain that in years past, the Admissions department has strictly reached out to students in their junior year of high school.
This past year’s deadline to apply for regular admission was February 1 with early action being December 1.
Kindon said that students can still apply, but with so many students already applying and being accepted, a student must exceed the Longwood application requirements in order to be accepted. Kindon further explained that this is a result of Longwood wanting to keep the incoming freshman class around 1,100 students.
“(Longwood) wanted all the students to be looking towards that deadline,” said Kindon.
The deadline to apply was changed to coincide with approximately 90 percent of institutions both nationally and within the Commonwealth, according to Kindon.
The Admissions department began to notice the increase with the amount of tours prospective students were taking to get a better feel for the campus.
“(Longwood tours) allow to have a very homelike feeling,” said Kindon.
There is no change in acceptance qualifications for the rising freshmen of the class of 2020. Brown described the guidelines as the student’s high school record with an added emphasis on the courses taken, as well as the grades from the core academic classes.
Kindon mentioned a new application feature which many other institutions are coming to as SAT optional. This concept allows students who meet a certain grade point average (GPA) to have the option of providing their SAT score when applying to colleges.
“(Longwood) could potentially be going to SAT optional,” Kindon added.
With the university receiving more applications, the total number of acceptances will decrease in able to maintain the class size which Longwood currently has, which is approximately 5,000 undergraduate students.
“I anticipate the acceptance rate in comparison to the total number of applications will decrease,” said Brown.
The Admissions staff at Longwood tracks the applications on a weekly basis. According to Brown, Applications are monitored throughout the entire application process.
“(There has been an) increase of students where Longwood is their first choice,” said Kindon.
Kindon hopes that this school spirit will eventuallyincrease the overall culture of Longwood.
