May 29, 2009

This Year, Colleges Recruited Students in a 'Hall of Mirrors'

Chronicle survey reveals how admissions officials dealt with difficult cycle

Photograph by Bill Wiegand for The Chronicle

Molly Arnold (at right, above), director of admissions at Illinois State U.: "There are so many things, from weather to the economy, from reputation to your ball team, that can affect how your applicant pool flows.

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Photograph by Bill Wiegand for The Chronicle

Molly Arnold (at right, above), director of admissions at Illinois State U.: "There are so many things, from weather to the economy, from reputation to your ball team, that can affect how your applicant pool flows.

By Eric Hoover and Beckie Supiano

This year would break all the crystal balls in admissions. That much seemed certain months ago. After all, the statistical models that deans use to predict enrollment outcomes rely on historical data, but no moment in recent history had looked so hazy or so dire.

Amy B. Abrams pondered this last summer when she started her new job as the dean of admission and financial aid at Sarah Lawrence College. In her first year as a top enrollment official, she had to recruit students to one of