http://www.syracuse.com/news/poststandard/index.ssf?/base/news-8/1109756550290210.xml

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=145399&forum_id=1#2275817)

Newly coed college draws admission requests from 170 men and 730 women.

Wednesday, March 02, 2005

By David L. Shaw

Staff writer

There were 900 applicants for fall admission to newly coed Wells College in Aurora by Tuesday's deadline - the highest number of applications since the mid-1960s and nearly triple last year's pool of applicants.

The field of applicants consists of 730 women and 170 men. Wells will admit male students this year for the first time in its 137-year history. Last year, the college received a total of 375 applicants.

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The college's officials are pleased by the numbers.

"This is beyond what we expected," said Susan R. Sloan, director of admissions. "We are very happy with what we're seeing."

Sloan said of the 900 applicants, the college has accepted 406 women and 82 men for admission.

"It's too early to tell how many of those we've accepted will actually enroll and come here in August," Sloan said. She said the college has received financial deposits from 17 prospective first-year students as of Tuesday.

She said typically 30 percent of those accepted actually end up enrolling. "The next key date is May 1. That's when we get deposits from students, an indicator of how many will actually en-

roll," Sloan said.

Based on the robust numbers, Sloan is confident the college will meet its goal of having at least 130 first-year students on campus in late August as the Class of 2009.

Sloan said the 900 applicants come from all over New York state, 40 other states and a handful of foreign countries.

"We've gotten a lot of positive feedback from both men and women applicants. Quite a few say they applied because of the coed decision," Sloan said.

"Now we are going to do all we can to get them to campus for a visit," she said. She said some have visited the Aurora campus during scheduled weekend visitation during the current school year, but many have not.

"The academic profile of our applicants has not changed much. We're still getting high-quality students with average SAT scores of over 1100," Sloan said.

Freeville resident Rachel J. Dickinson, mother of Wells student Railey Savage, opposes the coed decision. She said her daughter will leave Wells at the end of the current semester. "She loves Wells, but she wants to go to an all-women's college," she said.

"The enrollment numbers are wonderful for Wells," Dickinson said. "I think a look at all-women's colleges would also show their enrollments are up. I and others believe Wells could have increased their enrollment without denying its heritage and going coed."

This year, the college began with 392 students, with 302 of them living on campus. College officials said they'd like to see 450 to 500 students on campus each year.

The decision to admit men for the first time since the college opened in 1868 was made by the college's Board of Trustees on Oct. 2. The decision was met with support and with vocal, visible opposition by more than a hundred current students, joined by parents and Wells graduates.

A lawsuit filed by two students seeking to overturn the coed decision was denied by Acting State Supreme Court Judge Peter E. Corning in state Supreme Court in Auburn. To date, no appeal or further court action has been taken.

Dean of Students Karen M. Green said 28 students withdrew at the end of the first semester. She said five of them listed the coed decision as the reason for their departure. She expects others to leave at the end of the current semester.

The college made the change to coed after years of not being able to get enrollment much over 400 students. They said the lack of revenue from residential students forced the college to use more of its endowment to balance its budget.

© 2005 The Post-Standard. Used with permission.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=145399&forum_id=1#2275863)

I now know a student at Wells, and she said that their recruitment efforts are terrible and their literature & viewbooks are ugly and dated.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=145399&forum_id=1#2287132)